HOT SULPHUR SPRINGS — On a late April day in 2020, Jonathan and Elizabeth Stark met with a Grand County sheriff’s investigator and the assistant coroner at a park near Granby. The meeting, captured on body camera, centered around the February death of their 7-year-old son, Isaiah Stark.
The boy’s cause of death, according to the coroner, was an excessive intake of sodium reportedly from drinking olive brine. Isaiah, who was also found to be malnourished, had been subjected to punishment involving olives and brine, a mandatory reporter later told a child abuse hotline.
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Both parents were known in the tight-knit community of Grand County, with Jonathan Stark serving as a Granby police officer. During the 90-minute meeting, Assistant Coroner Tawnya Bailey was recorded telling the Starks, “I will do everything in my power to make sure this stays here.” Sheriff’s investigator Bobby Rauch echoed the sentiment, assuring them, “The case was done.”
When the Starks asked what the district attorney might do with the autopsy findings, they were told it would likely be “thrown aside.” These revelations, uncovered through a Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report, have raised alarms among child welfare officials, The Denver Post reported.
The Child Protection Ombudsman of Colorado criticized the Grand County coroner and sheriff’s offices, as well as the 14th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, for failing to follow basic investigative procedures. The state’s Child Fatality Review Team labeled Isaiah’s death as preventable and attributed the tragedy, in part, to a lack of oversight by health professionals.
Over the past five years, at least seven agencies reviewed the case, including an independent investigation that determined Isaiah died from “fatal medical neglect.” Yet no criminal charges were ever filed. District Attorney Matt Karzen defended the decision, citing inconclusive evidence and the absence of a provable culpable mental state under Colorado law.
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Still, the coroner had identified both the cause and manner of death, and an outside medical expert noted Isaiah’s dehydration was so severe that a small amount of brine may have been lethal. “This case leaves us with many unanswered questions,” said Child Protection Ombudsman Stephanie Villafuerte. “And those responsible for giving these answers are unwilling to do so.”
The Starks declined to comment. The Grand County Sheriff’s Office maintained in a statement that it had conducted a “comprehensive, professional” investigation, adding there were “no findings to support a criminal case.” However, critics say the case exposes how small communities can struggle with impartiality when it comes to child safety and justice.
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