‘I’M Not Guilty In My E’ Diabetic Accepts Deal, Pleads Guilty To Killing Girlfriend’s 2-Year-Old Son
He doesn’t believe he’s a murderer, but Gavin Ritzler pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing the toddler he said he loved like a son.
“I’m not guilty in my eyes, but that’s not the way the jury would see it,” said Ritzler, who was having a diabetic fit when 2-year-old Kory Holbrook was killed last summer. “I see this as my only reasonable choice.”
On the day jurors were being selected for his murder trial, Ritzler, 26, accepted a prosecutor’s offer to plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
The former fitness trainer entered an Alford plea, in which a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to win a conviction.
Ritzler’s attorney, Bevan Maxey, said he encouraged his client to accept the plea bargain.
“At the very least, the jury would have convicted my client of second-degree manslaughter,” Maxey said. “But there’s a chance they would’ve given him second-degree murder, too. It’s a big difference when you’re talking prison time.”
Ritzler was arrested Aug. 18, after Kory was found unconscious on the floor of his North Side apartment. Ritzler lived in the two-bedroom unit with his girlfriend and Kory’s mother, Rea Holbrook. She wasn’t home at the time.
On that night, neighbor Robert Johnson heard thumping noises in Ritzler’s apartment below. Knowing Ritzler suffered episodes when his blood-sugar level dropped, Johnson went downstairs to see if he needed help.
He found Ritzler naked, pacing around the apartment in the dark. He went back to his apartment to get Ritzler some food, deputy prosecutor Mary Ann Brady said.
When he returned, Johnson saw Ritzler slam Kory on the floor, Brady said. He yelled to his wife for help.
While they tried to resuscitate the toddler, Ritzler rubbed his face against Kory’s and said, “Sorry.”
He died of massive head injuries from being thrown into a wall, Brady said. The impact left a round, bloody dent in the plaster “that matched the shape of the victim’s head,” she said.
“He did not take care of his diabetes,” Brady said. “He did not monitor his blood-sugar level … He was reckless.”
Relatives, however, said Ritzler’s diabetic reactions become so severe at times that he cannot control his behavior. No one believes he meant to hurt Kory, not even the boy’s mother.
“He loved Kory like he was his own son,” Rea Holbrook said. “There’s no way he meant to hurt him. Gavin used to get mad at me when I punished him.”
Rea Holbrook’s mother, Elva Holbrook, visits Ritzler often in jail. She said she doesn’t blame him for her grandson’s death because Ritzler “couldn’t help what happened.”
“I don’t think he should be charged with a felony at all,” she said. “I don’t see how the prosecution could have proved he did anything but love that little boy.”
When he’s sentenced March 5, Ritzler faces a standard range of 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 years in prison. Had he gone to trial and been convicted of second-degree murder, he would have faced 12 to 14 years.
Ritzler has no prior criminal record.
Maxey said he will bring in medical experts to talk about the severity of Ritzler’s diabetes and will ask for an exceptional sentence below the standard range.
Associated Press ILLUSTRATION: 2 color photos