Father sentenced after pleading guilty to killing son, burning body
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) - A Seminole man has been sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to beating his toddler to death then burning his corpse in July 2022.
On July 27, 2022, Caleb Jennings’ remains were found in a makeshift burn pit on a vacant lot off of old State Highway 99 in Bowlegs.
“It’s just, it’s tragic,” said Brook Arbeitman, spokesperson for the OSBI. “Any homicide is obviously tragic. But when a child is murdered, it’s just really hard. It’s just tragic.”
The OSBI said the investigation led detectives to the Seminole home of Caleb's father, then-32-year-old Chad Jennings, and his girlfriend, then-31-year-old Katherine Penner.
During a preliminary hearing, a cousin of Chad Jennings testified that Jennings had confided in him after Caleb's death.
He told the judge that Penner was angry with Caleb and told Jennings to “deal with him.”
Penner went to the kitchen while Jennings “whooped” Caleb in the bathroom. Court documents said the child went limp and stopped breathing.
Court documents show Jennings and Penner tried to give Caleb CPR, but it was too late.
Jennings’ cousin told the judge “neither one called for help” and “to me, that is abuse.”
Penner told investigators they wrapped Caleb up in his blue blanket and hid him in a closet before deciding to cremate him in a burn pit.
An anthropologist for the State Medical Examiner’s Office told the judge thousands of tiny bone fragments were taken from the scene.
The doctor said his team has assembled some of Caleb’s bones 11 months later, which is a big accomplishment. He said some of those bones “non-accidental” fractures at different stages of healing after “repeated blows to the chest.”
Now, Chad Jennings has been sentenced to life without parole for Murder in the First Degree-Child Abuse. Jennings also received 10 years for Conspiracy and seven years for Desecration of a Human Corpse.
Penner also pleaded guilty to Child Abuse, Conspiracy and Desecration of a Human Corpse. She was sentenced to 30 years, suspended except the first 20 years.