While it’s nowhere near as long as he deserves, at the very least, a child killer from San Antonio, Texas will spend the next few decades locked away from society.

On Tuesday, August 10, 2021, Logan Wayne Harvill pleaded guilty to his single first-degree felony charge of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury, accepting a plea deal that places him in prison for the next 40 years. While I couldn’t find a peep about this development anywhere on the internet, fortunately, I was able to watch the hearing as it was live-streamed, so I’m glad to be able to provide this long-awaited update in a case I’ve been following for a year and a half.

First, a quick recap: on Sunday, January 26, 2020, mother of five Sareh Lang received a phone call at work from her ex-boyfriend and lifelong friend, Logan Harvill, who was watching her three youngest children. Logan said he called 911 because her youngest, 3-year-old Christian Paz, wouldn’t wake up.

Christian was rushed to San Antonio’s University Hospital, but medical staff was unable to revive him. On Monday, January 27, Christian was declared brain dead, and the next day, after life support was removed, Christian died in his mommy’s arms.

29-year-old Logan Harvill was arrested on Monday, January 27, 2020 and charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury. Unfortunately, even after Christian died and his death was ruled a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head, Logan’s charge was never upgraded to murder.

While awaiting trial, Logan was held in the Bexar County Jail on a bond of $150,000.

Present at yesterday’s Zoom hearing were Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl; the defendant, Logan Harvill (from Bexar County Jail); his attorney, Tony Jimenez; Bexar County Assistant District Attorney Kristen Mulliner; court staff; and, to provide victim impact statements, Christian’s maternal grandmother, Jennifer Owens, and his paternal grandmother, Connie Paz.

The range of punishment for Logan’s charge was five to 99 years or life in prison and a possible fine of up to $10,000.

By accepting the plea agreement, Logan waived his right to a jury trial, instead entering his guilty plea directly to the judge. In return, he received a finite sentence of 40 years in prison and a fine of $2,000. He was given credit for time served. He is also forbidden from contacting Sareh, Jennifer, Connie, and Christian’s father, Samuel Paz.

Another stipulation of the plea agreement was that Logan has no right to appeal his case, so at the very least, Christian’s family can do their best to move forward without worrying about constant legal maneuvering by the cretin who stole their precious boy’s life.

After Logan’s sentence was delivered, he was forbidden to speak while the victim impact statements were given. Jennifer Owens spoke first, also speaking for her daughter, Sareh, who was not present at the hearing.

“Mine’s going to be a bit lengthy, and for that I apologize, but I’m going to speaking today on behalf of my grandchildren, my daughter, my husband, my mother, and myself. Their and my words are the only way I can convey the pain we all endure every day.

“I asked [brother] and [sister] what they would want everyone to know about how life is without Christian. [Brother] says it’s painful and lonely without Christian. He also wanted you to know, Logan, that you’re a jerk.”

At this, Logan, wearing a blue face mask, a headset with microphone, and an orange jail jumpsuit, looked down and nodded almost imperceptibly.

Jennifer continued, “[Sister] said it’s been hard without Christian. My husband says he knows what you’ve got coming, Logan, and you deserve it.”

She then read her daughter’s statement from her phone. “Sareh says, ‘How am I supposed to put a lifetime of grief onto paper? I have written and re-written this paper numerous times, trying to put words together in the proper order to express the grief, anger, and hatred that I feel. One thing that I have come to realize out of everything that I will miss: Christian’s future… He was meant for great things in this world. But what is the point of saying how amazing Christian was? You don’t care; you’ve never cared. If you did, we wouldn’t be here. I hope you enjoy where you are. You deserve so much more than this. You should have been in the box my son currently rests in. And I hope it eats at you every second, every hour, and every day that you live.’

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“For my part, I cannot begin to explain with words what it’s like to help an eight and nine, now nine and ten-year-old grieve. The hours spent in counselling, with investigators and doctors, I can’t ever get those back. There’s a true horror in their memories that is what you’ve done to them. They were terrified of you, just as you groomed them to be. I tell you this: had I known, you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to kill Christian. I can’t adequately express how hard it is to watch my daughter’s face when she says she deeply misses the part she didn’t get to know: Christian’s future.

“Even with all the time we’ve had in therapy for trauma, I find myself swallowing the screams of my anguish and despair. It’s because I have one nagging thought that I can’t shake, and one I want you to ponder, Logan. What was Christian’s last conscious thought? Did he realize he’d never see Mommy and Daddy or [brother] and [sister] again, much less Nana, Uncle Vinnie, Gemma, Grumpus, and Uncle Alex?

“You groomed my grandchildren to not tell what you were doing to them. You held power over them and taught them fear. I hope and pray that someone much bigger and with much more power does the same for you. I pity you, because somewhere along the way, your stupid, effed-up family forgot to teach you that children were to be cherished and loved, and not hurt and killed. I will do everything I can to make sure you stay in prison for all 40 of your years. And know this: it isn’t all of the justice that will be meted out to you. That’s all I have to say.”

Next, after a few technical difficulties, Connie Paz gave her statement, and it was equally heartbreaking.

“First of all, Your Honor, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to express my thoughts and feelings regarding the murder of my grandson, Christian Alexander Paz. By making this impact statement, I hope to convey to Mr. Harvill what he has taken from me and how his actions have affected me.

“Mr. Harvill, on January 27, 2020, you took a very precious, loving, kind, intelligent, head-strong, fun-loving, and energetic three-year-old beautiful baby boy from me. You took the one person in this world who calls me Nana with love in his heart and joy in his voice, and in your selfish action, you took all that away from me, and you replaced it with unimaginable pain, anguish, anger, and an emptiness in my heart that I deal with every single day. Christian was my one and only grandchild, and at this time in my life, he was my purpose, my joy, my happiness. He was my everything.

“Christian was discovering new things every day and asking a lot of questions that a little three-year-old with a hunger for knowledge would ask. He was learning his numbers; he was learning his primary colors, with blue being his favorite; his ABC’s; how to color pictures and stay in the lines. He was able to recite nursery rhymes. But most importantly, he was learning how to express himself.

“As Christian’s Nana, I was looking forward to him starting kindergarten and all the excitement and joy that he will experience on that first day. I was looking forward to years and years of birthdays and Thanksgivings and Christmases with him, and with the Lord’s will, I was looking forward to his prom and his graduation from high school. I was looking forward to watching him grow into a beautiful young man and getting many beautiful and precious hugs and kisses from him. You took all that away from me.

“What kind of fear did my grandson, Christian, impose on you that you felt that abusing him and ultimately killing him was your only purpose? Why couldn’t you see how that little boy just wanted you to love him and to be his friend? Mr. Harvill, I hope and pray that every single day of your life, you will feel and experience the unimaginable pain, heartache, anguish, and suffering you have inflicted on me and my family. I hope and pray that every time you close your eyes and you find a moment of peace, that you will see my grandson’s face and hear his laughter. I hope and pray that you will never, ever forget my grandson, Christian Alexander Paz. I pray that you will find forgiveness from Almighty God for killing my grandson, Christian Alexander Paz. Thank you, Your Honor.”

With that, the hearing concluded, and Logan was remanded back to the Bexar County Jail to await his transfer to state prison.

By the end of the hearing, both of Christian’s grandmothers were in tears, and I’m not going to lie; I was, too. My heart is beyond broken for this family. I wish them all peace and healing, and I can promise them one thing: Christian will never be forgotten.

Click here for my previous coverage of Christian’s story.

Sources: 175th District Court live stream