David Homer Edenfield, born June 4, 1948, and his wife Peggy were longtime residents of Georgia and lived in a mobile home in the Canal Mobile Home Park in Brunswick. Their son, George Edenfield, had a history of sexual offenses and was a registered sex offender with multiple prior convictions. In 1994, David was charged with incest involving his daughter and pleaded guilty, receiving ten years of probation. George, following in his father's path of sexual deviance, was convicted in 1997 of child molestation and was also given probation.

Due to Georgia’s 2006 sex offender residency laws, George was forced to relocate multiple times. In a twist of irony, the Edenfields moved into the trailer park where Christopher Barrios Jr. lived with his family, precisely because the law forced George to vacate his previous residence for being too close to a playground. This trailer park was located just outside of the restricted zones, creating an unfortunate proximity between the Edenfields and their eventual victim.

George Edenfield was a known threat in the community. Before the murder, he had already been indicted in September 2006 for violating his probation by living within 1,000 feet of a park. Only days before Christopher’s abduction, on March 5, 2007, George was sentenced to another ten years of probation. Despite their criminal histories, the Edenfield family remained largely unchecked in the community. Neighbors viewed the family as strange and isolated, and some noted George’s erratic and potentially dangerous behavior.

On the afternoon of March 8, 2007, 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. was lured by George Edenfield into the Edenfield family trailer, located within the same mobile home park in Brunswick, Georgia, where the Barrios family lived. Once inside, George and his father David Edenfield sexually assaulted the boy. According to court records and a taped confession, the abuse included forced oral sex and sodomy, while Peggy Edenfield, the boy's mother, watched and participated by engaging in self-gratification.

After the prolonged assault, Christopher allegedly threatened to tell his father and grandmother what had happened. Fearing exposure, David and George Edenfield strangled the child to death. In the aftermath of the murder, the family continued to sexually gratify themselves beside the boy’s corpse, further deepening the depravity of the crime.

The Edenfields called a friend, Donald Dale, to help dispose of the body. Dale would later plead guilty to lesser charges of lying to the police and was committed to a mental health facility. One week after the murder, a state ranger discovered Christopher’s body in a wooded area several miles away, stuffed inside multiple black plastic garbage bags.

The investigation that followed quickly identified the Edenfield family as suspects. Peggy Edenfield later agreed to testify against both her husband and her son in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. She was sentenced to sixty years in prison. Her testimony, along with David’s videotaped confession, became the cornerstone of the prosecution's case.

David Edenfield stood trial in September 2009. Prosecutors relied heavily on his own words and Peggy’s testimony, alongside forensic evidence and expert testimony from medical examiner Dr. Jamie Downs. The jury deliberated for only two hours before finding David guilty on all counts on October 5, 2009. The next day, he was sentenced to death. As of 2023, he remains on Georgia's death row.

George Edenfield’s case took a different path. On August 3, 2010, a court ruled him mentally incompetent to stand trial. He was committed to a state mental hospital indefinitely. Experts continue to assess whether he may one day become competent to face trial.

The murder of Christopher Barrios Jr. generated significant media coverage and public outrage. The tragedy led to renewed calls for stricter monitoring of sex offenders and greater community oversight. In a bizarre twist, the child's photograph was later used in an unrelated television drama aired on SOAPnet, prompting a civil lawsuit by the Barrios family for invasion of privacy.