Fulton DA says prosecuting ‘evil’ murder suspect changed all child death investigations

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office says the Crimes Against Children Unit has a 90% conviction rate, but one case shaped how they handled all child fatality cases moving forward.

Kristin Fridley says her life was forever changed in December 2020 when her 2-year-old daughter Fallon was murdered. Her babysitter, Kristie Flood, pleaded guilty in March and was sentenced to life in prison.

“It upended everything. I mean, everything I knew, everything I thought about the world, it changed. Everything changed the way I viewed people,” Kristin Fridley said.

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Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne sat down with Fulton County DA Fani Willis exclusively to talk about how Fallon Fridley’s murder changed the way they investigate.

“There are not many defendants that I think are evil, but when you look at the torture of this child, that’s really the only word that I can come up with,” Willis said.

Willis says that over a prolonged time, Flood beat Fallon Fridley at Flood’s home while Kristin Fridley was working. The DA’s office says the big break in the case came months into the investigation when prosecutors found a nanny cam-style video that showed much of the abuse.

“Through listening to more than a thousand jail calls, they were able to discover that there was video,” Willis said.

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She says that Jeffrey Meyers, Flood’s boyfriend, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years. She says he didn’t stop what was happening and obstructed the investigation.

Willis says one of the big changes that came after this case was investigators from her office joining police at crime scenes.

“We’ve responded in the middle of the night to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at all three different campuses in response to a deceased child,” Deputy District Attorney Lauren McAuley said. “Our team has responded to a landfill to search for the remains of one of the victims in our cases with the East Point Police Department.”

Channel 2 Action News attempted to reach defense attorneys for both Flood and Meyers, but did not hear back.

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