Appellate court upholds Rhodes murder conviction

GOSHEN – The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court has affirmed the January 2006 murder conviction of Christopher Rhodes, the man found guilty of killing his seven-year-old daughter, Jerica Rhodes, in her school.

Rhodes had taken his daughter to school at the Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Highland Falls on a January day in 2005.

He left and a short time later, her lifeless body was found in a girls’ bathroom at the school. She had been stabbed several times.

District Attorney Frank Phillips said the appellate court found fault with one component of the trial.

“The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court did find that the trial judge, Judge Berry, made an error by allowing the District Attorney’s Office to introduce Mr. Rhodes’ confession to the jury; however, the appellate court that that error was not substantial and that there was sufficient other evidence for a jury to conclude that Mr. Rhodes was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

During Rhodes’ trial, blood evidence found in his car was presented as evidence linking him to the girl’s murder.
He is currently serving a 25 year to life prison sentence.

Assistant DA David Byrne prosecuted the case and presented the oral arguments to the Appellate Division.