Murdered Child's Pic Used As Soap Opera Prop

Imagine the shock of the Barrios family. They sit down to watch an episode of 'General Hospital Night Shift' on SoapNet, and there they see a picture of their beloved Christopher Barrios, Jr. who was just 6 years old when he was kidnapped, raped and murdered in 2007. Christopher's picture was used as a prop for a storyline involving Billy Dee Williams:

Members of the Barrios family said they now know how a picture of their slain child ended up on a television show, but they still want to know why.

Family members of a murdered south Georgia child said they're considering legal action to learn the truth about a soap opera slip-up. ...

In March 2007, Christopher Barrios Jr. was kidnapped, raped and murdered. The tragic story received a lot of attention both locally and nationally.

Christopher's photograph was often on the news, however, the Barrios family never expected to see the 6-year-old's photo appear on a soap opera.

In an episode of "General Hospital: Night Shift," Billy Dee Williams' character received a letter and a photo from a son he supposedly abandoned -- the photo in the actor's hand was that of Christopher. [ ]

"They ain't got no right doing that -- not a bit of right," said Christopher's grandmother Sue Rodriquez after a clip of the show in October. Source

I certainly agree that this mess up was sloppy production and unacceptable. But I am hard pressed to attribute the slip up to anything more than an overworked production assistant who saw a beautiful child and grabbed the image without fully researching it. I don't see any evidence of ill intent.

I don't understand why the family wants to sue. ABC fully apologized and produced a PSA on missing and exploited children dedicated to Christopher.

Gelman said the television company told him that in search of a photo a prop master did a Google search for "black children" hoping to find a kid who resembled Billy Dee Williams.

"Somehow, someway he chose Christopher's picture out of the other million or billion that are on the Internet," Gelman said.

ABC offered an apology to the child's family, saying: "We offer our deepest condolences to the Barrios family for their loss and our sincerest apologies for any pain caused by our mistake."

The network also produced a public service announcement on missing and exploited children in Christopher's honor. The PSA aired on SOAPnet.

However, Gelman said the Barrios family continues to struggle with the idea that Christopher's photo was used. He said they are still sickened by it.

"Once they find out the facts, how this happened, then they'll make up their mind as to what they want to do," Gelman said. Source

I hope the Barrios family finds peace.