They Rubbed Feces In His Mouth- The Story of Ethan Stacy

They Rubbed Feces In His Mouth- The Story of Ethan Stacy

Four-year-old Ethan Stacy caught the attention of his new neighbors right away when he moved in 10 days ago. “He was, um, carrying not heavy things, but bulky, and he was just a trooper and I was laughing ’cause it was so cute.”

And during the search for him, a lot of that attention shifted to his new stepdad and mom. “She came out of the house and she was crying how, you know, she was a bad mother to let something like this happen, and we all felt sorry for her.” Gone, neighbors say, are the feelings of empathy, replaced by disbelief at what the couple is accused of doing. “I’m so sick to my stomach. I don’t see how anybody can do that to anybody, much less a little kid that can barely speak for himself.”

Welcome or welcome back, I’m Cassie and this is A Wicked World. The story I have for you today is about a little boy who did not want to go see his mother over the summer, but a court order forced his father to put him on a plane and send him there. Less than two weeks after he had arrived, his mother would be calling 911 saying that her son had disappeared. This is the story of Ethan Stacy.

A Bitter Custody Battle

Ethan Stacy was born on September 22nd, 2005, at the Fort Stewart Army Base in Savannah, Georgia. His mother’s name was Stephanie Sloop and his father’s name was Joe Stacy. Ethan was a loving, kind, and happy boy. He loved playing with his Transformers and watching the movie Cars over and over again. Ethan also relished in making people laugh with the jokes that he loved to tell.

After Ethan’s birth, the family relocated to Florida, but Joe and Stephanie’s marriage would not last much longer, and they separated in 2009. After they did, Joe moved back to his hometown of Richlands, Virginia, and Stephanie moved out to Utah.

Ethan’s father, Joe, was an oil rig worker, and he had actually been expecting a large sum of money from an accident that had happened in 2008. During the divorce settlement, he had offered to give Stephanie half of this settlement once he received it, and she, of course, accepted. But being greedy, Stephanie insisted that if Joe did not receive that money, she wanted full custody of their son, Ethan. The judge, however, said this was unenforceable.

Originally, following his parents’ split, Ethan had been living with his father in Virginia. After Joe and Stephanie had begun the process of divorce, Joe became more and more worried that his estranged wife was becoming unstable and unpredictable. Due to this, Joe had written in the divorce filings that Stephanie had abandoned their son Ethan, but he was afraid that she would come back and take him at any time, and then he was afraid he would never see his son again. A judge, however, would end up granting Stephanie visits with her son Ethan as part of their custody agreement. Ethan was to spend the school year with his father and then fly out to Utah to be with his mother for the summer.

Enter Nathan Sloop

Ever since they had gone their separate ways, Stephanie had begun living in an apartment located in Layton, Utah, with her fiancé, Nathan Sloop. Nathan and Stephanie had known each other since childhood but had only recently begun dating in October of 2009. Nathan called his relationship with Stephanie a “match made in heaven” and said she was his perfect woman. He claimed she also respected his bad boy side. He said the couple, who had quickly become engaged, were planning on getting married just days after Stephanie and Joe’s divorce was finalized.

Also right after the divorce was finalized, Ethan was scheduled to fly out to Utah to spend the summer with his mother, Stephanie, and her fiancé, Nathan. Joe absolutely did not want his son to go to Utah, but Stephanie had made threats against him, including suing him for kidnapping. Ethan also did not want to go see his mother. He didn’t even speak to her on the phone; in fact, when she did call, he would tell his father that he didn’t want to talk to her. Ethan hadn’t seen his mother in quite some time, but it was court-mandated, and nobody really had a choice in the matter. So, on April 28th, 2010, Joe put his son on an airplane headed for Utah.

Stephanie’s fiancé, Nathan, had been sending violent and threatening text messages to Joe even before Ethan’s visit—for close to six months at that point, actually—which was part of the reason why Joe did not want his son to go out there. In addition, Joe and his family did not believe that Stephanie even really wanted custody of her son. They thought that she was only doing it to hurt Joe, like Ethan was just a pawn, and I wouldn’t doubt it.

On April 30th, two days after Ethan arrived in Utah, Nathan would send Joe yet another text message, but this one would be much different, and it said that his son would be safe in their home. Nathan said: “I will protect him with my life yet respect your position as his father. You’re a good man, Joe Stacy. I’m honored to know you. Wish it were other circumstances, but I have been truly impressed to see how you handle yourself as a man. Much respect from a man to a man.”

But Nathan is anything but a man, as you’ll see. Nathan would go from hot to cold to hot again. Just a few days later, in a text message sent from Nathan’s phone (though it might have been Stephanie writing it), it said: “You [__], you’ve brainwashed my son so badly I don’t know what to do. I hate you, you selfish prick. Ethan is not coming back, and because of this lovely law called Interstate Custody, you can kiss your son goodbye.”

Nathan also sent Joe a recording of his son crying and saying that he didn’t want to go back to his father’s house in Virginia. “I don’t want to go there,” Ethan wailed, but Joe also heard his son say “Ow” on the recording, so something was going on.

As you can probably tell, Nathan was a bit of a loose cannon, and he had a prior criminal history. In June of 2001, he had been charged with criminal conduct and disorderly conduct. Two years later, he was found guilty of possession with intent to manufacture and produce a controlled substance. Then, in October of 2003, Nathan had been found guilty of illegal possession and use of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school.

The Disappearance

Ethan hadn’t been in Utah with his mother long when the Stacys, his father’s family, began having a hard time getting a hold of the little boy. Whenever one of his family members would call to speak with Ethan, they were told that he was either asleep or outside playing. When they did talk to Ethan, they could hear the Sloops in the background telling the boy what to say.

Then, less than two weeks after Ethan had arrived at his mother’s home, on May 10th, 2010, Stephanie was calling 911 saying that he was missing.

“I just woke up in the middle of the night and my four-year-old child is missing,” Stephanie said calmly on the 911 call. As the call continued, she did begin crying, but she tried to tell the dispatcher about her custody dispute with Ethan’s father. That’s until the dispatcher cut her off and asked her what her son was wearing when he disappeared, because that’s more important. I assume she brought this up because she was in some way trying to set up Ethan’s father, Joe, for his disappearance. “Oh, there’s a custody dispute, you know, he must have come and kidnapped him.” I’m not sure if that’s what she was going with, but I’m guessing.

Layton Police immediately responded to the emergency call that had come from the Sloops’ apartment located in the Layton Meadows apartment complex. Once there, they met with Stephanie and Nathan. Stephanie told police that she believed her son Ethan had wandered out of the apartment in the middle of the night. She also said that five out of the last ten nights, Ethan had wandered out of the apartment on his own.

Police then began checking the surrounding area, including the apartment grounds, the trash receptacles, vehicles in the parking lot, a storage shed, and surrounding businesses. But after searching for hours and coming up with nothing, detectives once again interviewed the Sloops, and that’s when their story began to change.

A Gruesome Discovery

The couple would end up telling police that Ethan was dead and his body was located in the Ogden Valley near Wolf Canyon Trail, about 25 minutes from their home. After that, Nathan would lead officers to where he had buried Ethan’s body. His little body had been wrapped up in eight trash bags, then buried, and dog food had then been scattered on top of his grave. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the little boy’s face had been badly disfigured in an attempt to conceal his identity. He had been burned, and his face looked like it had been smashed in with a hammer.

About 100 yards off the trailhead, in an area described as rugged, muddy, and wet, and not far from where Ethan’s body had been found, detectives discovered and collected various pieces of evidence. They would end up finding, among other things, a bloody curtain, a blood-covered hammer with its handle broken off, a used bottle of lighter fluid, ammonia, duct tape, and Ethan’s sweatshirt. Ethan’s body had second and third-degree burns on 17.5% of it, from the tops of his feet up to his thighs.

Here is a statement outlining the timeline of the investigation:

“On May 10th, 2010, at approximately 11:55 p.m., Layton Police Department received a call about a missing boy. The child was identified as four-year-old Ethan Stacy. Ethan’s mother said she put him to bed around 9:00 p.m. When she checked on him later, he was gone. She told officers that Ethan had snuck out of the home on prior occasions. Officers arrived within five minutes. They met with the parents, obtained a description of Ethan, and started checking the area to include the apartment grounds, trash receptacles, vehicles in the parking lot, storage sheds, and area businesses. K9 units from the Layton Police Department, Davis County Sheriff’s Office, and a bloodhound dog from the West Valley Police Department were called to aid in the search. Additionally, officers on scene used thermal imaging and night vision equipment to assist in the search.

A countywide Attempt to Locate was issued for Ethan at 12:35 a.m. Within the first 90 minutes, all Layton Police Department detectives had been notified, reverse 911 calls were made within a half-mile radius, and the Davis Area CART team had been activated. Additionally, a list of known sex offenders within a one-square-mile radius had been obtained. An endangered person alert was issued in this case. Due to the child’s age, the time lapse, and the elements, the situation did not fit the criteria for an Amber Alert. In this case, Amber Alert requires that the child be under 18 years of age, requires a confirmed abduction, evidence that the child is in danger of death or serious bodily injury, and information that can be sent to the public that can help in the apprehension of the child or the arrest of the suspect.

Officers from Layton Police Department and Davis Area CART team, FBI agents, Adult Probation and Parole, as well as Child Protective Services and Davis County Search and Rescue personnel were assembled within two and a half hours. After receiving the call, an additional reverse 911 notification was made extending that area to one mile. By 3:30 in the morning, the initial area was searched thoroughly, personal contact was made with all the registered sex offenders in the target area, their homes were searched, and a door-to-door canvas of the apartment community was completed by 5:00 a.m.

Additional searches had been done in the area of the apartment. Persons of interest were interviewed and information was obtained leading us to the possible burial site in the area of Powder Mountain. This information was obtained at approximately 11:00 a.m. Due to weather and terrain, it was difficult to process this crime scene. The crime scene is currently being processed by Weber County CSI in conjunction with the Layton Police Department. At approximately 5:00 p.m., a body of a juvenile male matching Ethan’s description was discovered at this site. Charges are being filed against the mother and stepfather in this case.”

A medical examiner would determine that Ethan’s death had been caused by a combination of scalding injuries, drug toxicity, and aspiration pneumonia, which is caused by an inhalation of foreign material into the lungs—possibly vomit. Ethan had also suffered from dehydration, and multiple substances had been found in his body. This included Xanax and substances indicative of Tylenol and Benadryl, and these medications appeared to have been administered in adult doses.

Nathan Sloop was charged with aggravated homicide, felony child abuse, obstruction of justice, and desecration of a corpse. Stephanie Sloop was charged with felony child abuse, obstruction of justice, and desecration of a corpse. The additional charge of aggravated murder would later be added to Stephanie’s three other charges. Both pleaded not guilty and insisted that Ethan’s death was only an accident. Oh yeah, a hammer to his head was just an accident.

When Nathan again spoke with detectives, he told them that he believed Ethan’s father, Joe, had taught the child to misbehave in an effort to hurt Stephanie. He also told them that Stephanie believed that her ex-husband had “destroyed her boy” and she had asked Nathan to teach him to be a man. He’s four. Four! And she wanted him to do this by either beating him or whatever it took to get her boy back.

A Friend’s Disbelief

ABC 4’s Kelly O’Hara reported live from the jail with an exclusive interview with Stephanie’s best friend of ten years:

Kelly O’Hara: “Well Karen, she tells me that she’s at a loss for words, and just yesterday she wrote Stephanie a letter and dropped it in the mail asking her simply, ‘why?’ Now, the two were best friends for a decade, and now she tells me their friendship is shattered, and she says if Stephanie Sloop is guilty of what she is potentially charged with, then she says she gets what she deserves.”

Tina Reyes: “She’s done a complete 180 because this isn’t the Stephanie I know at all. This isn’t the Stephanie any of us know.”

Kelly O’Hara: “Tina Reyes is Stephanie Sloop’s best friend. She struggles to understand. She says that the Stephanie she has known for 10 years would have taken the alleged beating for her son and done anything to protect him. Now she’s sitting in a jail cell accused of taking part in her son’s murder.”

Tina Reyes: “Stephanie’s always been there for me. She was, yes, a control freak and, like people say, vindictive and manipulative, but I don’t know anybody who isn’t.”

Kelly O’Hara: “Tina even has pictures of Ethan Stacy with her daughter. This picture also shows Stephanie looking over the children.”

Tina Reyes: “It hurts my heart because I’ve known her for so long. She’s like my sister. But there’s no reason for this. There’s no excuse. She’d never be resentful or anything of her son. She’s never, never said anything negative about having him or anything. She even wanted more kids.”

Kelly O’Hara: “Reyes says it all started to go downhill after the divorce from Ethan’s father and this trip to Vegas.”

Tina Reyes: “She was in Vegas, and then all of a sudden she was in Utah and madly in love with some guy that I’ve never even heard of. Ever.”

Kelly O’Hara: “Reyes did talk to the 27-year-old accused murderer last week before she got married, but hasn’t spoken to her since and is now left to wonder.”

Tina Reyes: “I don’t know if she was on drugs or what could have possibly happened.”

The House of Horrors

When it came time for Stephanie to speak with police, she told them that on May 5th, Nathan had taken Ethan into a bedroom and began slapping him and hitting him in the face and head. This had caused Ethan’s face to swell up, and from that point on, Ethan was vomiting, lethargic, had a fever, and couldn’t eat. These symptoms were consistent with a possible brain injury. But instead of trying to help the child, Nathan had engaged in even more violent abuse, and Stephanie had never gotten any help for her son either, even though she knew he badly needed it.

On top of that, she had also documented the abuse of her son. There were photos found in her phone that showed Ethan’s face swelling more and more as time went by. This swelling of the face, Nathan had previously tried to tell police, was because the little boy had a peanut allergy.

So the day after all that had happened, on May 6th, while Ethan was laying there in serious pain, the couple decided that they were going to go to the courthouse and get married. They, of course, weren’t going to take Ethan with them, though, saying that they were afraid to bring him out in public because of the swelling and bruising on his face. They thought if anyone saw his injuries, they would call the authorities. I hope they would! I hope they would, but you never know. Instead of bringing him, what the pair had done to the badly injured little boy was put him inside his bedroom and then removed the doorknob so that he couldn’t get out of his room unassisted.

The day following their marriage, on May 7th, Stephanie said she had arrived back home from shopping to find that Ethan had been scalded on his feet, legs, and buttocks. Nathan told her that the boy had burned himself in the bathtub, though he hadn’t been in the room at the time so he hadn’t actually witnessed it. He had just heard Ethan scream. But what had actually happened was, when Stephanie went out, Nathan decided he was going to give Ethan a bath and intentionally made the water much too hot. Ethan then began screaming that it was too hot when Nathan walked out of the room. So Nathan walked back in, told him it was not hot, and shoved him down into the water. He told investigators that this made Ethan cry, but that wasn’t anything new because the boy had cried from the day he had come home.

That day, when Stephanie had come home, she had also noticed that there were feces in Ethan’s mouth, and she brought him to the bathroom and began scrubbing his teeth. She scrubbed so hard, in fact, that she made his gums bleed. Stephanie said that Nathan was the one to put feces in her son’s mouth, but Nathan, of course, said it was Stephanie who had done it. Nathan said that Stephanie had been slapping the [__] out of Ethan because she had just “gone over the edge,” and then suddenly she grabbed feces and shoved them in his mouth.

But regardless of who had done this to Ethan, on May 9th—which was also Mother’s Day—the Sloops discovered the little boy dead in his bed. After finding his lifeless body, the couple worked together to formulate a plan so they could escape prosecution.

First, Stephanie had gone to a hardware store where she bought lighter fluid, gloves, and a shovel. She had then returned back home, and her and Nathan had wrapped up Ethan’s body in the trash bags and then taped it up. From there, the Sloops had driven to Powder Mountain, where Ethan was burned, disfigured, and then buried. They had then burned other evidence at the gravesite. Apparently, part of the reason why they had so badly disfigured Ethan’s face was because Stephanie was afraid they would identify him by his dental records.

After Stephanie and Nathan had buried Ethan, they seemed to show no remorse. Nathan even sent his wife a text message that same day saying: “Baby, can you get some antioxidant vitamins please? That would be great. I can’t wait to take you to Happy Sumo. Memories. Love you.” The pair also exchanged sexually charged text messages over the next few days, as well as went on a few dates.

Almost immediately after Ethan had arrived in Utah, the abuse had begun. Nathan had told police that he had disciplined him by either slapping him or spanking him a few times, but he never thought that that amounted to abuse. Sure you didn’t.

The Trial and Sentencing

A preliminary hearing was held to determine if there was enough evidence to bring Nathan and Stephanie to trial for Ethan’s murder. His defense was arguing that the boy’s death was only an accident and had been caused by overmedication of over-the-counter drugs. However, a toxicologist spoke and presented evidence that showed that none of the drugs that had been found in Ethan’s body on their own would have caused his death. And due to the fact that Ethan had been dehydrated as well, that would increase the effects of the medication, but it still would not have resulted in his death.

The medical examiner went on to talk about bruising that had been found on Ethan’s head, a loose tooth, hemorrhaging of his eyes, long bruises on his thigh, and injuries to the boy’s genitals. The aspiration pneumonia that had been a contributing factor in Ethan’s death, they determined, had been caused most likely by the feces that he had been forced to eat. The medical examiner also said that Ethan’s stomach had been empty at the time of his death, which means he hadn’t eaten in hours. After Ethan had died, his skull had been fractured in numerous places, which was believed to be from the hammer, and his face had been burned with chemicals that strongly smelled of ammonia.

A few of Nathan’s phone calls from jail to his ex-wife and mother were played in court. In a few of the conversations, he would refer to his new stepson Ethan as “poison” and said that ever since the little boy had arrived, his and Stephanie’s relationship had gone down like a battleship. Nathan had also told his mother that Ethan was getting out of his room every single night, sneaking into the fridge, and playing PlayStation. That was part of the reason why he was so angry with him. And in yet another phone call, Nathan would say that he had destroyed two women’s lives (I assume he’s talking about his mother and Stephanie), and then he said it was all just because he wanted to get laid more. Are you effing kidding me?

The court was also shown a photograph of Nathan and Ethan sitting on the couch playing video games together. The boy’s face was red, swollen, and bruised. Nathan looked at the pictures and then immediately looked away. He couldn’t even look at what he had done. Coward.

The prosecution then played a tape that Nathan had made with Ethan on April 29th. In it, Nathan was forcing Ethan to say that he didn’t like his real father and didn’t want to go back and live with him, even making the little boy lie and say that his father spanked him and he didn’t feel safe with him. In another video taken by Nathan, Ethan says, “I’m having fun with Nathan. He’s not scary anymore.” “You’re such a good boy,” Nathan said back to him. “You’re such a good boy, I have that.”

Prosecutors showed a conference on Child Abuse Prevention some of the evidence they collected in the case against Nathan Sloop, including recordings of four-year-old Ethan Stacy taken by Sloop himself. It was tough to watch as prosecutors detailed the horrific abuse of Ethan and the personal toll the case took on officers. Ethan Stacy was hit, scalded in a bathtub, and eventually given so much over-the-counter drugs he died.

There were also a few text messages found between Nathan and Stephanie that were presented as evidence. In one message, Nathan says, “I told you we had a pull on our hands but they learn.” Stephanie then messaged back, “Just like Mommy LOL,” to which Nathan replied, “I told you we had to break his ego.” Then a few days later, Stephanie would text Nathan saying, “He is broke, that’s for sure,” and then Nathan replied back, “Had to figure out how to keep him in his room.”

The prosecution also brought up the fact that in the 11 months leading up to Ethan’s death, Nathan had taken 4,146 prescribed pills. It was questioned how someone can even function on that many pills a day. On average, that’s over 13 pills each and every day, and these medications included Lortab, Valium, Percocet, and Xanax. So, heavy medication.

It would end up being determined that there indeed was enough evidence to bring both Stephanie and Nathan to trial, and the prosecution said that they were absolutely going to be seeking the death penalty. But before he could go to trial, Nathan accepted a plea deal, and he pleaded guilty to aggravated murder in February of 2014. As part of the plea deal, the other charges against him were dropped. This deal also spared him from possibly receiving the death penalty. Nathan admitted that he should have taken Ethan to the emergency room, but he had been afraid that he would go to prison, so he didn’t. He thought of himself and only himself. He also said that he was mentally ill and that he knew that he had made mistakes that had led to Ethan’s death. He told the judge, “The boy died on my watch, and I’m horribly sorry.”

Nathan Sloop would be sentenced to 25 years to life for Ethan’s murder, and he would also be sentenced to 15 years to life for assaulting a deputy, which had happened in the time since he had been incarcerated. Inside the courtroom, Stephanie Sloop cried. Her husband Nathan appeared to twitch slightly. The couple was told that because it’s a potential death penalty case, they’d be getting new lawyers who are qualified to handle it. As he was led out of the courtroom, Nathan Sloop spotted his mother and mouthed the words, “I love you.” She declined to comment to reporters outside the courthouse. Protesters carried signs and demanded justice for Ethan Stacy. “We just thought maybe they’d, uh, come out and join us in our little demonstration, the lovely Mr. and Mrs. Sloop, but I don’t think that’s going to happen today.” Probably not, yeah.

Ethan’s father had flown in to attend the court hearing. He said that the first time he had met his ex-wife’s new partner, Nathan, was before his son had even gone to Utah, and at the time he had thought that the man had come off as polite and levelheaded. Boy, was he wrong. During the hearing, prosecutors had also told Joe that Nathan wanted to personally speak to him and apologize, but Joe didn’t want to hear any of it.

Then, in November of 2014, Stephanie would also take a plea deal. She pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and obstruction of justice. In exchange for her plea deal, prosecutors took the death penalty off the table and dropped her other charges of child abuse and desecration of a body. 31-year-old Stephanie Sloop said in court, “I am entirely responsible because I am his mommy.” She claimed that she had suffered from battered wife syndrome and she was scared of Nathan, which is why she had never gotten medical attention for her son, and that’s why she went to the courthouse and married him the next day too, right? Stephanie wept and said that she does not know who she is without her son. She would also say that she had a prescription medication addiction at the time that her son had been abused and killed, which is why her judgment had been so severely diminished.

The judge would order that Stephanie serve 20 years to life for aggravated murder and 15 years for obstruction of justice. He ordered these sentences be served concurrently.

Aftermath and Memorials

In the aftermath of Ethan’s murder, questions were raised about the judge’s decision to allow him to go to Utah to spend the summer with his mother. According to Judge Smith, who had been the one to approve the custody agreement, there had been no arguments made in court regarding the possibility that Ethan would be possibly in danger with his mother. She also had not read Joe’s initial petition that had clearly stated that his ex-wife was not to be trusted. And if a background check had been done on Nathan at all, it would have revealed that in addition to his other charges, he had also abused his ex-wife and he had made threats to kill her and her new boyfriend.

A candlelight vigil was held in Layton, Utah, and more than 100 people attended to honor Ethan’s memory. Many held candles, while others—some who had seen him in the apartment complex and others who had never known him—offered heartfelt words of sorrow and consolation. Others hoped his death served as a warning that neighbors needed to be involved in watching out for the welfare of children everywhere.

Local residents had also placed a cross on the trail in Eden where four-year-old Ethan Stacy’s body had been found. On May 11th, 2010, and funeral services for Ethan were held on May 19th, 2010, at the Grundy Funeral Home Chapel. He was then buried in the Clinch Valley Memorial Cemetery in Richlands, Virginia.

Joe Stacy said about his son, “You never met such a loving boy at his age. He’s always running up to you and hugging you, always telling you he loves you.”

Well, thank you for listening to all of Ethan’s story today. This story is infuriating. Joe knew that his ex-wife couldn’t be trusted, and Ethan didn’t even want to go see his mother. Children need to start being listened to when it comes to custody cases. They know if they’re not being treated right, and it’s their lives. Just because they’re children doesn’t mean they’re not people too. They deserve to have their voices heard. There are way too many instances of children being beaten by a parent or parents.