Olathe ? A leader of a storefront church and a member of the congregation were convicted Thursday of killing a 9-year-old boy who choked on his own vomit after being wrapped from head to toe in duct tape.

A Johnson County jury took about five hours to convict Neil Edgar Sr., 48, and Chasity Boyd, 20, of felony first-degree murder in the December death of Edgar’s adopted son, Brian. Jurors also found Edgar and Boyd guilty of abusing two other Edgar children.

The boy’s mother, Christy Edgar, pleaded guilty last week to the same charges.

Neil Edgar had little visible reaction, but Boyd, a baby sitter for the Edgar children, cried when the verdicts were announced. Sentencing was set for Nov. 19.

Christy Edgar’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 5. The Edgars and Boyd each face a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years for the felony first-degree murder charge. The sentences for the child abuse charges could vary depending on the defendants’ criminal histories and other factors.

Attorneys for both defendants said they would appeal. Boyd’s attorney, Bob Kuchar, said the appeal would be based on the fact that Johnson County District Judge John Bennett didn’t allow jurors to consider lesser charges while deliberating.

Prosecutors said Christy Edgar and Boyd punished the child Dec. 29 for stealing food by wrapping Brian from head to toe with duct tape. They left Brian overnight with a sock in his mouth and only his nose uncovered, and he choked on his own vomit at the family’s Overland Park home.

Neil Edgar has not been directly implicated in the abuse that caused Brian’s death, though Johnson County Dist. Atty. Paul Morrison argued he allowed it to take place and assisted those who carried it out.

‘Brainwashed’

Neil Edgar Sr. testifies on his own behalf during his murder trial at the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe. Edgar was convicted Thursday of killing his 9-year-old adopted son, Brian.

Defense attorneys argued that Christy Edgar was responsible for Brian’s death because she manipulated her husband and other members of the God’s Creation Outreach Ministry in Kansas City, Kan., a storefront church operated by the Edgars.

Neil Edgar, the pastor of the church, testified that he left nearly all major decisions to his wife, including how to discipline the children. He said he originally claimed responsibility for Brian’s death to protect his wife of 31 years.

“He knew he was in for a tough battle,” said his attorney, Carl Cornwell. “He wanted to try and save his wife and his church and look what it got him.”

Witnesses during the trial said Christy Edgar was considered a prophet and had told church members that God had told her to discipline children by tying them up.

Kuchar had argued that his client, who joined the Edgars’ church when she was 8 years old, had the mental capacity of a 13-year-old and was manipulated by Christy Edgar.

“She’s completely brainwashed by (Christy Edgar),” Kuchar said.

Chasity Boyd takes a seat as she enters the courtroom. Boyd, the baby sitter, and Neil Edgar Sr. were convicted Thursday of killing 9-year-old Brian Edgar.

Children were ‘commodity’

Brian was one of four children adopted by the Edgars. Brian’s 12-year-old brother and 9-year-old sister testified that they also were tied up, but both said they did not think there was anything wrong with being disciplined that way.

The Edgars were receiving about $2,000 a month in adoption subsidies, which may have influenced their treatment of the children, Morrison said after the verdicts were announced.

“They were a commodity to those people, a commodity to be managed,” Morrison said.

Clifford Jackson, superintendent of the Church of God in Christ’s Pentecostal District Assn., of which God’s Creation is a member, said he was “shocked” by the verdict, especially the first-degree murder conviction.

“There’s no evidence, not a shred of evidence, to support such a charge,” Jackson said. “I think Pastor Edgar in so many ways was as much a victim in this case as anyone.”

The Edgars’ 16-year-old son testified that Christy Edgar and Boyd wrapped Brian in duct tape on Dec. 29 because he had stolen some cookies.

The boy said that when they ran out of tape, Neil and Christy Edgar went to get more, and when they returned, the women continued to tape Brian, leaving only an opening for him to breathe through his nose.

Neil Edgar testified he did not know what the tape was to be used for and didn’t ask his wife.

The next morning, Dec. 30, Brian was not breathing, and Neil Edgar took him to the University of Kansas Hospital.

Five other members of the church face charges in neighboring Wyandotte County of abusing three of the Edgars’ children and a friend of the children.