‘He’s forgiven’: Uncle of boy found dead inside freezer speaks out; sentencing hearing delayed

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CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WWBT) - Sentencing for a Chesterfield father who was found guilty of killing his son and then putting him in a freezer was delayed on Thursday.

In July, Kassceen Weaver was found guilty of felony homicide, felony child neglect, and concealing a dead body after officers found the body of his young son, Eliel Adon Weaver, inside a freezer in the family home in May 2021.

Investigators believe Adon’s remains were inside the freezer for nearly two years, and he was under five years old when he died.

During the trial in July, prosecutors said Adon’s remains were found wrapped up in a bin stored in a freezer among a number of frozen turkeys in the Lookout Pointe Circle home.

Upon examination of his body, Eliel was found with multiple injuries, some of which were in the process of healing, including two skull fractures and five rib fractures.

During the trial, the prosecution argued that Weaver refused to get his son medical attention after his wife begged him to take their child to the hospital.

Prosecutors also argued Kassceen allowed Adon to die and “refused to provide medical care.”

The defense argued that there’s no dispute Adon’s death is tragic, but said Kassceen did take action. The defense attorney referred to Dina Weaver’s testimony, saying Kassceen tried to revive Adon using the chest compressions she used to revive him following one of his crying spells days before his death.

The defense attorney also discussed what they called the “the rhino in the room,” saying they don’t know what killed Adon and “we don’t even know if a crime occurred.”

After close to four hours of deliberations behind closed doors, the jury found Kassceen Weaver guilty of all three charges in this case.

In the courtroom on Thursday afternoon, the judge sided with a motion made by Weaver’s defense in court to give them more time for a full pre-sentence report.

Dominic Minnitte, Adon’s uncle, was in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing.

Throughout the last couple of years of the legal process, Minnitte said he has been looking at it all with patience.

“As far as how this has all gone, it’s all part of God’s plan,” he said after the sentencing hearing. “I don’t expect anything, I just let it all happen and if it doesn’t happen. We’ve had a lot of postponements and delays and stuff, but as far as this was concerned, I wasn’t surprised.”

Minnitte said he has prayed for Kassceen and has forgiven him.

“I wanted Kassceen to know that he’s forgiven, at least by me, and that everybody should be able to forgive others for what they’ve done to, you know, their parents or family members, friends whoever, enemies and to just pray for everybody,” said Minnitte. “As far as this is concerned, it’s hard on everybody, you know, including people that are friends with my sister. Hard on my family, yes. In the end, you got to look at it as darkness can’t survive in light.”

Minnitte also said Weaver’s oldest son is with him and describes him as a “good kid.”

“We get along good and it gives me an opportunity to be a dad,” said Minnitte. “He’s the most polite child, boy, I think I’ve ever encountered in my life to be honest with you. He doesn’t look at the bad side of people, he loves basketball like no other, and he loves his mother and he loves his grandmother.”

Weaver is being held at Southside Regional Jail in Emporia and will head back to Chesterfield Circuit Court for his sentencing on Dec. 21 at 2 p.m.

Weaver’s estranged wife was also charged in this case back in 2021, but prosecutors decided to withdraw her charges more than one year later.

“In reviewing the evidence in her case as a whole, and in assessing culpability as it relates to the circumstances surrounding that evidence, the Commonwealth made a decision to not go forward on Ms. Weaver’s matter at this time,” Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Barbara Cooke said in a statement made back in Oct. 2022.

Weaver is also facing an aggravated malicious wounding charge in connection with his estranged wife.

An arraignment hearing is set for this charge on Dec. 8 in Chesterfield Circuit Court.

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