Christina Silvers, Kelton Prisbrey and John Trinity are being charged with improper animal disposal and animal cruelty, police said, Trinity is also being charged with a warrant.
When police arrived at the house, police said, they told the owners to dispose of the animal and left without further incident or investigation.
Red flag right here. Lazy cops. Was the dead horse a skeleton? Was it an old horse that died of old age? Why didn't they bother to check the other animals to make sure they weren't starving to death as well?
A few days later, deputies were called back to the home because of a domestic disturbance call. When police arrived, they found the horse still had not been buried.
The officers then found a makeshift grave inside a corral, which contained the bodies of two other recently buried horses. I can only assume that they starved to death like the poor horse that was left to rot in the pasture.
A fourth horse - a 2 year old colt, still alive but severely emaciated, was located and then taken to the horse sanctuary "Dust Devil Ranch Sanctuary for Horses", police said. He is under a veterinarian’s supervision and is expected to make a full recovery.
“His chances of survival are great,” Ginger Grimes said. “The hoof on his right hind leg was detached due to a large untreated abscess, but he is receiving regular supplements, medicine and love. It is still early on, though. If a horse is starving and eating wood or gravel, that can sometimes take up to two weeks to work its way out of their system.”
Police believe the horses died from starvation and cold weather.
PREVIOUS CALLS ABOUT ANIMALS SUFFERING
In Jan. 2014, Iron County Sheriffs were dispatched to an Iron County address occupied by Trinity on a report there was no hay on the property, according to ICSO Lt. Del Schlosser, only to find there was. No charges were filed.
ICSO deputies responded to the address occupied by Trinity again in April 2015, on reports of animal neglect, but no charges were filed in that case.
“The hooves on some of the horses needed to be trimmed,” Schlosser said. “But the claims of animal neglect were unfounded.”
Schlosser added ICSO currently does not have an animal control officer. If an ICSO deputy does respond to a call alleging animal cruelty, a veterinarian is called to the site.
What training have these deputies taken for animal husbandry? Do they know what a healthy horse, dog, cat, cow, pig, etc. is supposed to look like? Do they know about proper amounts of feed, shelter, care - the laws for animals? Do they know about animal diseases and illnesses - that some things can't be doctored at home and need a vet? Clearly they have no training b/c you've got deputies going out an a starved, dead horse call and do NOTHING.
“If the general health of the animal is questionable, we bring in a professional for an evaluation,” he said. “If the animal has symptoms of abuse, we will then take measures to prevent further abuse.”
In both cases involving Trinity in Iron County a veterinarian was not called, Schlosser said.
Ginger Grimes, the owner of Dust Devil Ranch that recently took in the fourth emaciated horse for rehabilitation, said the alleged crimes are especially disheartening because many in the Iron County community had reached out to Silvers in the past. There are also many options the animal owners could have used to prevent the other horses from starving.
“There are so many people in the county who are willing to help,” Grimes said. “Whether they need help with temporary hay or selling the animal at auction, they have local animal control, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary — there are people who want to help. But there are other deaths that go unreported in Iron County as well. Some we see with our own eyes and some we just hear about.”
Iron County animal activist Lisa Pedersen said she and others offered Silvers 10 tons of hay approximately two years ago when there were allegedly more than a dozen “unhealthy” horses on an Iron County property west of Cedar City.
“Christina Silvers was asking people for feed for her horses on Facebook,” Pedersen said. “I offered her 10 tons of hay in exchange that she agreed to turn over the animals to Dust Devil Ranch — she refused.”
Grimes thinks the difference between the two incidents could be location.
“From my experience with law enforcement, there is a huge difference in the way Iron County and Washington County law enforcement respond to animal abuse incidents,” she said. “Washington County will often call me if they suspect abuse and ask for my advice.”
Full Name: Christina Lynn Silvers
Gender: Female
City: New Harmony, Utah
Date:02/19/2017
Time: 1:15 PM
Arresting Agency: Washington County Sheriff, Utah
Total Bond: $15,680
Charges
- ANIMAL-IMPROPER DISPOSAL. STATUTE: 4-31-102 (N I)
- ANIMAL CRUELTY. STATUTE: 76-9-301(2) (M B). BOND: $680
- ANIMAL CRUELTY-AGGRAVATED-NEGLIGENT. STATUTE: 76-9-301(5)(C) (F 3). BOND: $5000
- ANIMAL CRUELTY-AGGRAVATED-NEGLIGENT. STATUTE: 76-9-301(5)(C) (F 3). BOND: $5000
- ANIMAL CRUELTY-AGGRAVATED-NEGLIGENT. STATUTE: 76-9-301(5)(C) (F 3). BOND: $5000
Full Name: John Joshua Trinity
Gender: Male
City: New Harmony, Utah
Date:02/19/2017
Time: 1:15 PM
Arresting Agency: Washington County Sheriff
Total Bond: $16,086
Charges
- WARRANT-CASH ONLY. STATUTE: WARRANT-CASH (M B). BOND: $406
- ANIMAL-IMPROPER DISPOSAL. STATUTE: 4-31-102 (N I).
- ANIMAL CRUELTY. STATUTE: 76-9-301(2) (M B). BOND: $680
- ANIMAL CRUELTY-AGGRAVATED-NEGLIGENT. STATUTE: 76-9-301(5)(C) (F 3). BOND: $5000
- ANIMAL CRUELTY-AGGRAVATED-NEGLIGENT. STATUTE: 76-9-301(5)(C) (F 3). BOND: $5000
- ANIMAL CRUELTY-AGGRAVATED-NEGLIGENT. STATUTE: 76-9-301(5)(C) (F 3). BOND: $5000
NEWER ARREST:
Full Name: John Joshua Trinity
Arrest ID: UT-114012178
Date: 02/27/2017
Location: Iron county, Utah
Charge(s):
- Dog At Large
ARREST INFO:
Full Name: Kelton Lester Prisbrey
Gender: Male
City: New Harmony, Utah
Date:02/19/2017
Time: 1:15 PM
Arresting Agency: Washington County Sheriff
Total Bond: $15,680
Charges
- ANIMAL-IMPROPER DISPOSAL. STATUTE: 4-31-102 (N I)
- ANIMAL CRUELTY. STATUTE: 76-9-301(2) (M B). BOND: $680
- ANIMAL CRUELTY-AGGRAVATED-NEGLIGENT. STATUTE: 76-9-301(5)(C) (F 3). BOND: $5000
- ANIMAL CRUELTY-AGGRAVATED-NEGLIGENT. STATUTE: 76-9-301(5)(C) (F 3). BOND: $5000
- ANIMAL CRUELTY-AGGRAVATED-NEGLIGENT. STATUTE: 76-9-301(5)(C) (F 3). BOND: $5000
Time of booking: 00:11:24
Date of arrest: 02/11/2017
Address: New Harmony / UT
Agency: Washington County Sheriff
Charges
- Statute: 41-6A-502
Crime: DUI-DRIVE UNDER INFLUENCE ALCOHOL_DRUG
Class: BM
Bond: 1420.00
Paid: Cleared by Bond Payment - Statute: 41-1A-1305(4)
Crime: PLATE-IMPROPER OR REGISTRATION
Class: CM
Bond: 110.00
Paid: Cleared by Bond Payment - Statute: 41-12A-303.2
Crime: INSURANCE-NO PROOF OF
Class: IN
Bond:
Paid: Statute: 41-12A-303.2 - Statute: 41-1A-1303(1)
Crime: REGISTRATION-FAIL TO OR EXPIRED
Class: IN
Bond: 0.00
Paid: No Payments Made
Full Name: Kelton Lester Prisbrey
Address: 210 North 100 E
City: Ivins
State: UT
Zip Code: 84738
Date of Birth: 10/xx/1983
Charging County: Washington County, Utah
Charge Date: 05/16/2016
Charge: Electronic Communication Harassment Class B Misdemeanor
Statute: 76-9-201
Type: Misdemeanor
KELTON PRISBREY 2015 ARREST:
Full Name: Kelton Lester Prisbrey
Arrest ID: UT-113940940
Location: Washington County, Utah
Location: Washington County, Utah
Charge(s):
- Registration-fail To Register
- Dl Denied-non Drug_alcohol
- Dui-drive Under Influence Alcohol_drug
NEWEST ARREST:
KELTON PRISBREY 2017 ARREST:
Full Name: Kelton Lester Prisbrey
Arrest ID: UT-114013752
Arrest Date: 03/08/2017
Location: Iron County, Utah
Charge(s):
Arrest ID: UT-114013752
Arrest Date: 03/08/2017
Location: Iron County, Utah
Charge(s):
- Retail Theft
This article from December 2015 features Christina Silvers and John Trinity - who is identified as her brother-in-law.
Now that I know they like to starve horses to death, everything about this article comes into question. They were basically going and standing outside businesses asking for donations for veterans' families. But they're not affiliated with any official group. They're just standing there with homemade signs.
And the article starts out that "she didn't even know if her car would start" but she was going to drive all the way to St. George - which is MORE THAN 50 MILES FROM WHERE SHE LIVES. That does NOT make any sense.
What seems more likely - if their intentions aren't genuine - is that they've been run out of Cedar City, where they live, and they go to another community where people don't know them or their scams.
Where's the itemized list of every single item collected? Where's the proof that every single item collected was immediately given to a veterans group to be distributed to veterans' families? These are absurd questions because no one except Silvers and Trinity were the ones keeping track of what was donated so no one would be the wiser if they kept things for themselves.
Or maybe they cherry picked the best, most expensive items and kept them to resell - or give them to her own kids - and donated the cheaper, unwanted items to a charity.
Or maybe they didn't donate anything and kept it all for themselves to resell and this was all a scam.
I'm more inclined to believe that they're grifters - aka con men - who scammed naive, good-hearted people into donating items that never made it to any service members' families. Or maybe out of four shopping carts worth of toys and donated items, the veterans' group ended up with a couple coloring books and a cheap stuffed toy - while they kept the rest.
Published 2:52 p.m. MT Dec. 24, 2015
All photos: Nichole Osinski/The Spectrum & Daily News
Christina Silvers didn’t know if her car would be able to start but she was determined to get to St. George on Wednesday.
She and her brother-in-law, John Trinity, a Vietnam War veteran, had planned to be outside the whole day in hopes of raising money for disabled veterans and their families.
Several hours later, around 3:30 p.m., Silvers and Trinity had been able to get the car started and were once again standing outside of the St. George Michaels Craft Store with a shopping cart, a few signs and plastic barrel handing out candy canes and telling shoppers Merry Christmas.
As in years past the cart and barrel began to fill with not just money but donations of food, clothes and toys; everything would go directly to those in need.
“Some people ask how to pay back and we say, don’t pay back, pay it forward,” Trinity said. “The community helped us out when we needed it and now we’re paying it forward.”
Silvers’ commitment to standing outside for hours on end, sometimes not leaving until 11 p.m., for other families was started five years ago when her husband William, an Air Force veteran, had liver failure and they “lost everything.”
Silvers said that year they didn’t plan on having a Christmas for their children, prompting her to go outside of their local Wal-Mart to ask for help for her family.
The response was positive with people willing to donate to help Silvers, her husband and their children.
The next day, Christmas Eve, Silvers decided to give back and stood outside the Wal-Mart, this time for other families who might have missed having a Christmas themselves.
She was able to collect enough donations to help 28 people.
Since then, the Cedar City locals have been standing outside storefronts collecting whatever donations they can to help people nearby. This is the first year they decided to come down to St. George instead of Cedar City.
According to Trinity, now that they have come down to St. George the response has been much more positive.
However, it did take time before they settled on being outside Michaels. They first tried to stand outside the local Best Buy and Target but were told they could not collect in front of the stores and were told to leave.
As to who will receive the donations, Silvers said she isn’t the one to decide, rather people come up to her.
Sometimes if she overhears a conversation about how a person cannot afford certain items she will reach out to them directly.
“I don’t have any right to pick and choose, that person will come into my path that day, that time and it’s meant to be,” Silvers said. “Everybody deserves a Christmas; last year we started out with a crayon and coloring book, Christmas Eve I had four grocery carts.”
Silvers and Trinity don’t have specific requirements for what can be donated. And when it comes to donations there is no specific goal, only that they can help as many people as they can.
“If I have something to give to others I want to help; God’s been good to me and gave me kids and gave me a husband gave me children,” Silvers said. “We have veterans, children and families who have nothing, have been forgotten, need help, who just need hope…everybody deserves a Christmas.”
In 2010, she says her husband suffered a medical crisis. After a year of receiving donations from the local churches, fire departments and a direct donation account at her local credit union, she is asking for more money in 2011.
Fast forward to January 2012. At a city council meeting, people are asking for money for her.
Later in 2012, according to Lisa Pedersen, Christina was online begging for money to feed her 12 horses. When an offer was made to reduce the herd by giving them to a local horse rescue in exchange for donated hay, Christina refused. Why - if you are consumed with trying to save your husband's life - do you have 12 horses that need a lot of food and care???? Why wouldn't you SELL them to feed your family if you're so destitute???
January 2014, there is a complaint made of starving horses. Iron City deputies do nothing.
April 2015, there is a complaint about starving horses. Iron City deputies do nothing. Again.
Fast foward past that to December 2015, when the above article came out. Christina and John are basically panhandling in the parking lots - allegedly not for themselves but for random, unnamed veterans. I'm calling BS on all of this.
"Residents face mounting medical, financial trials"
by Kristen Daniel, Iron City Today
Published Jul 27, 2011
Archived link to article: http://archive.is/mgAZq
For Christina Silvers life has had far more pits and falls than one would consider average. In fact, if one wonders why some people seem to have less than their fair share of trials he or she can thank the Silvers family for taking extra helpings.
Chris is a woman who delayed treatment for ovarian cancer, while pregnant, to protect the life of her unborn baby. The cancer spread to her spine because of the delay in treatment, and then she watched her baby have life-threatening complications due to the cancer, which resulted in a four-month hospital stay while she continued to delay treatment until her baby was stable.
She was bed-ridden for 18 months because of the cancer treatments. Only three months after her baby was born struggling to live, and just as she was beginning cancer treatments, her mother, who was her best friend, died suddenly and unexpectedly.
Adding to all of this, Christina suffers from a severe brain injury from being hit by an SUV while crossing the street at age 9, resulting in occasional short- and long-term memory loss. She lived in foster care from the ages of 11 to 18, teaching her that people have to help one another to survive and be truly human.
And yet Christina is a person who is known to her friends as Betty Crocker. She learned to cook when she was 11 while living with 22 girls in her first foster home.
“The food was awful, so I learned how to cook food we all wanted to eat. Ever since then, I always cook huge amounts of food and we feed everyone who needs the food or the company.”
Christina has never asked anybody for anything – except, she adds, just somebody to love her. She says she found that in her husband William. Chris truly, unabashedly, loves her husband and is willing to do anything just to keep him alive.
Last October, William Silvers, a veteran of the Vietnam era, was doing his job, driving truck through Maryland, when he suddenly felt like he was dying. He pulled over and called 911. William discovered he had undiagnosed, dormant Hepatitis C, which had destroyed his liver. He was in a coma for three weeks.
William was transferred to a veterans’ hospital in West Virginia. Christina was there by his side for seven weeks. It was the first and only time she was away from her children, except when she was being treated for cancer.
William is terminal if he does not get a transplant, but they cannot maneuver through the system adequately to ensure he is even on the waiting list. Christina needs an advocate who can help her with the medical red tape and procedures.
Even while discussing her plight, Christina got side-tracked talking about how sorry she felt for the veterans at the hospital and how alone they were. She told how she tried to spend time with them while helping rehabilitate William and get him ready to be discharged and transported home.
In addition to his need for a new liver, when William was in a coma, the doctors inserted a pick-line for an IV and it broke off and floated to his lungs, thus causing a partially-collapsed lung and demanding he be on oxygen at all times. He must be on a CPAP/BIPAP breathing machine at night, which forces his lungs to expand. William’s diaphragm is partially paralyzed due to a pinched nerve, complicating the issues.
Christina said William helped her through her cancer and back surgery, and worried for her when she chose not to treat the cancer and risked her own life for her baby. He cried with her when the doctors told her she was finally cancer free just four years ago after painful and complicated treatments and back surgery.
Unbelievably, with William’s failing health, Christina’s only car was stolen three weeks ago while she was picking up medicine for William at Walgreens. Without a car she has no way to get William to the specialists in Salt Lake City so he can receive the care he needs.
Christina and William have three children, Barbara, 16, Tyler, 11, and Katelyn, 7.
“I don’t feel sorry for myself. I feel sorry for my family. I feel sorry they don’t have what they need and I can’t provide for them and take care of my husband. Barbara tries to be the mom when I can’t. It is not right for her to do that, but she is so amazing. She is a true hero,” Chris said.
Christina is a tall, statuesque woman, with long blonde hair and pale blue eyes. She is a proud, caring individual who wishes she could just find a way to take care of things on her own.
“I have always worked and found my way. I have always thought I will find a way, – the last three months have almost broken me,” she said. “Yes we are alive and my husband is at home, but I just don’t know how we will get through even next month, and I can’t imagine living without him.
“I have always believed that God will never give us more than we can handle, but I am at my breaking point,” she added. “I just think, please God, help me. I have been praying to God every night after the kids are asleep and hope someone hears me.”
Christina’s 7 year old gives every penny she finds to her dad and says, “Here daddy, this is for your transplant.”
It has been difficult to even get doctors to talk to the Silvers family, or to give them a straight answer on how to get William on the transplant list, she said.
“I feel like we have been swept under the rug, like we don’t matter. I just don’t know what to do,” Chris said. “We are just plain people who have always done our duty and worked hard no matter what life has thrown at us, and I feel that should matter for something.”
Vietnam Veteran John Trinity, William’s half-brother, who served as an Army Ranger, said William is a strong man who was always there for everyone else and does not like having to be helped.
“My brother is a strong person. If you saw him three years ago and then saw him now you wouldn’t even recognize him. Chris is a giver. She takes care of everybody, even stray neighbor kids who need a place to stay or a meal,” Trinity said.
Trinity is currently trying to find work to help the family. He stopped driving truck so he could go be with his brother when doctors said he was going to die, and now he can’t find another job.
“I’ve always taught my children to give to everyone and ask for nothing in return. I have always tried to give to others and just thought someday it would come back to me, and right now I need something back in a big way. I can’t do this by myself and we need help, I wish we didn’t, but we do,” Christina said.
As Christina suffers from memory loss and multiple problems with her spine from cancer and surgery, it is difficult for her to work even under normal circumstances, but now she must care for William 24 hours a day.
William has had difficulty asking for help. He has always supported himself and his family, but now, his resources and health exhausted, overwhelmed, Christina and William are putting out a petition for help.
There is so much that is needed including legal help and advice. In the least, they are in need of donations that will help them purchase a car and provide for gas and help with past and current bills.
A tradition in the Silvers household has been the Birthday Fairy. That was Christina. She would stay up all night and decorate the whole house with every streamer and favorite thing and color one could imagine, so the birthday boy or girl would wake up to a birthday wonderland. She is heartbroken the birthday fairy has not been to their house in a very long time.
“My children know we don’t have any money for birthdays, we all miss the birthday fairy a lot,” she said.
Those who wish to help the Silvers family can do so by contacting Christina at chrisangel73christina@aol.com or make a donation in an account at Mountain America Credit Union, account number 8931733.
"Family asks community for help with struggles"
by Kristen Daniel, Iron City Today
Archived page: http://archive.is/P76nK
Published Dec 28, 2011
Christina Silvers and her husband, William, have been struggling every day with his need for a liver transplant, and her own health problems that make working difficult or impossible.
As Today has written articles about the community coming together to help those in need, it is the hope of the Silvers family that there are individuals willing to help them navigate the difficult circumstances in which they have found themselves due to no fault of their own.
As was previously reported, in October of 2010, William Silvers, a veteran of the Vietnam era, was doing his job, driving truck through Maryland, when he suddenly felt like he was dying. He pulled over and called 911. William discovered he had undiagnosed, dormant Hepatitis C, which had destroyed his liver. He was in a coma for three weeks.
William was transferred to a veterans’ hospital in West Virginia. Christina was there by his side for seven weeks. It was the first and only time she was away from her children, except when she was being treated for cancer.
In addition to William needing a liver transplant he also suffers from a paralyzed diaphragm. He relies on breathing machines in the home. He is in stable condition only for the moment and the family still has to travel consistently to Salt Lake City to see doctors.
In spite of all she has been through, it is now more than at any other time in her life that Christina feels true fear for herself and her family. Recently, William’s veteran’s check was shortened by several hundred dollars to cover unpaid medication co-pays.
“I am scared right now,” she said. “I have been through a lot in my life and this is the first time I am truly, truly scared. It’s the first time I have not been able to pay my rent and have no way to pay my electric bill.”
The Silvers are not accustomed to asking others for help prior to this incident, but now that things are so desperate and their health is not allowing them to dig out of their situation on their own they are left with no choice.
“It’s beyond hard right now,” Christina said. “My children have always known me as the happy, positive one, and they don’t know the person I am now. I am so stressed out and tired.”
The Silvers’ are looking for help, and for someone who can help them plan and navigate their way through these difficult times. They would like to thank the Enoch Fire Department for donating wood to them so their home could be heated. They also have received limited help in the past from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but their overwhelming circumstances have left them feeling isolated and alone.
Christina is most concerned about the effect this all has had on their family. People who know the Silvers’ personally say that Christina and William are and have always been very much in love. Christina consistently speaks of how much she loves her husband and loves their life together. Even though it may often have been a struggle, they have always been happy and have found a way to enjoy their life together.
“My family has handled my severe health problems in the past so well,” she said. “But now, for the first time ever, our family has a crack in it.”
Christina has had donation cans for her husband’s transplant in the community, and two of them have been stolen. It seems to them they cannot catch a break and they just don’t know what to do.
Christina and William have three children, Barbara, age 17, Tyler, 11, and Katelyn, 8. Barbara is working at a local hotel trying to help with expenses.
Christina said people always tell her she needs a fundraiser but she doesn’t know how to do it, and doesn’t know enough people to bring it all together.
“I’m one of the little people in a corner and you can’t see us,” she said. “I don’t know how to make my family visible to people so we can get some help.”
One of the major hurdles they have to overcome is the need for a reliable automobile to allow William to go to necessary doctors’ appointments.
The Silvers’ are registered on www.freecharitycars.com under the name Chrisangel. People can go on the site and vote for the Silvers family, but it takes 50,000 votes to receive a car from the site. If any citizen donates a car directly to the Silvers’ through the site, the donation would be entirely tax deductible.
The Silvers’ are open to any help one can provide including guidance on how to work through their situation, and help with medical and household expenses.
Those who wish to help the Silvers family can do so by contacting Christina at chrisangel73christina@aol.com or make a donation in an account at Mountain America Credit Union, account number 8931733. Donations can be mailed even in the form of a Walmart or a gas card to 5043 N. 4300 West, Cedar City, UT 84721.
CEDAR CITY UTAH CITY COUNCIL WORK MINUTES
JANUARY 4, 2012
The City Council held a work meeting on Wednesday, January 04, 2012, at 5:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers, 10 North Main Street, Cedar City, Utah.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Ryan Diekman – welcome to the new council members. He read an article, attached as Exhibit “A”. Ryan likes to volunteer in his neighborhood and with Christmas for truckers.
I am pleading for help with a family for a hand up, not hand out. This is beyond a bad economy and bad luck, the family is pleading for help. They have exhausted their contacts and don’t have enough money. He served for the country and had contacted Hepatitis C from a blood transfusion. They are in the Three Peaks area, out of the city limits, but we are the big brother in the area.
They have one vehicle that is not adequate to travel to Salt Lake. - wait, I thought she said their vehicle had been stolen?? He has machine reliability and cannot take a bus or shuttle. I held a quick fund raiser in front of Lin’s on Saturday raised over $200. After talking with the family it only raised a portion of their needs. They have a power bill over $1,000 and are behind in rent.
I am coming to you for help for this family of 6, two Viet Nam vets. Can we hold a fund raiser possibly at the Aquatic Center to help with transportation, possibly towards a new vehicle. They have had 2 of the 4 donation jars stolen. Their vehicle has also been stolen - wait, he just said they have one vehicle.
John – do we have a phone number?
Ryan – there is an address and an email address to contact Christina Silvers. I had not met the family before I took stuff to them on New Years Eve.
April 2017 Update:
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