Adam Snyder death: John and Katherine Snyder get life sentences for 2016 homicide of adopted son

CINCINNATI, OHIO: Two 52-year-old parents from Ohio will spend decades in prison for viciously assaulting and killing their adopted 8-year-old son seven years ago.

Authorities reported on Thursday, November 30, 2023, that John Snyder and Katherine Snyder were sentenced to 29 years to life and 31 years to life respectively, in a state correctional facility for the horrific death of young Adam Snyder.

A jury in Hamilton County convicted the couple earlier this month on felony charges in the boy's tragic death on October 5, 2016, as well as abusing several of their other children.

What was determined from the autopsy report of the dead child?

The Snyders had filed legal lawsuits against Hamilton County Coroner Dr Lakshmi Kode Sammarco in January 2019 and again in May 2020.

According to the case filed in 2019, John and Katherine Snyder adopted "numerous seriously disabled and special-needs children from China, including Adam [J.] Snyder, who arrived in the United States in February 2016."

Adam Snyder was born on December 8, 2007, according to the 2020 case.

However, on "October 5, 2016, Adam Snyder died while undergoing inpatient treatment at Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Hamilton County," according to the 2020 lawsuit.

The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office listed Adam Snyder’s “immediate cause[s] of death” as “[a]cute subdural hemorrhage” and a “blunt impact injury of [the] head,” according to an official death record attached to the 2020 lawsuit as an exhibit.

A “significant condition[]” that contributed to the boy’s cause death was “[w]idespread acute bronchopneumonia,” the death record states.

The manner of death was listed as “homicide” which was then contested by the boy’s parents by filing the twin civil suits.

However, the lawsuits to have the coroner’s report change the cause of death were deemed unsuccessful.

What transpired during the couple’s hearing?

Prosecutors claimed they killed Adam "by causing blunt force trauma to his head."

Stacy Lefton, Assistant Prosecutor for Hamilton County, told jurors that Adam died after his mother became so angry that he soiled himself and "slammed" his head into the floor.

Despite being aware of his son's life-threatening injuries, the boy's father refused to seek medical attention.

The parents have also been accused of physically abusing their children.

"Additionally, Katherine and her husband abused her other adopted and biological children, intentionally malnourishing them and punishing them with cold baths or showers," per a news release.

An advocate for the couple's adopted and biological children chastised the parents for their dangerously inadequate parenting.

"I heard the defense counsel mention earlier the innocence of their clients," the advocate told the court. "Well, I'm asking you to consider the innocence of my clients, who are the surviving victims of their brother being murdered."

The couple has lost custody of their remaining children, prosecutors said.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers understands what the surviving children have gone through.

“Very traumatic experience for them and they’ve probably lost their childhood as well but they have a lot of healing to do in the future,” Powers told WXIX.

Judge Cross sentenced each parent to 15 years in prison on the murder offenses, with the other crimes carrying varying penalties to be served consecutively – one after the other. They will also have to pay a $15,000 fine, register with the state's violent offender database, and remain on probation for the rest of their lives.

John Snyder was convicted of one count of murder, one count of endangering children, and one count of felonious assault, while his wife, Katherine, was convicted of the same offenses plus two additional counts of endangering children.

"It was you that failed to meet these six children's basic physical and emotional needs," Judge Cross reportedly told them. "As parents, you were their most important role models."

Both John and Katherine turned down the opportunity to address the court as per WXIX.