THE BENTHIN FAMILY is going to be reunited!
Case Closed!
The Maricopa County Attorney’s office has declined to prosecute Cheyenne and the Gilbert Police Department has officially CLOSED their case!
Although Cheyenne and her legal team still have their fight for reinstatement of custody of her daughter, this will be a major help in that fight.
We want to thank MCAO for coming to the right decision and listening to the facts and following the evidence of this case.
Our hope is that the public outcry regarding this case, and many others, forces the Gilbert Police Department to review their current protocols for investigations and that they have qualified detectives to properly investigate future matters such as Cheyenne’s.
We couldn’t have achieved this victory without you! The public pressure from all of our amazing members, and supporters, helped push this case along quickly!
Please visit the tabs below to learn how you can still help Cheyenne and the Benthin family.
Here's how you can help us continue to help this family
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The Benthin family faces over $100,000 in legal fees fighting for custody of their surviving child. Donate via the link below to give directly to Cheyenne to help put this ordeal in the past where it belongs!
Get The Details
Imagine you’re a mother and wake to find your infant son unresponsive. 911 is called, and within minutes, emergency personnel arrive and pronounce your son dead. An autopsy is performed, and the medical examiner determines that your baby died of natural causes. Law enforcement refuses to accept this fact and continues their investigation, although no crime occurred. Family court gets involved, and due to law enforcement’s refusal to close their investigation, you lose legal guardianship of your surviving daughter.
On July 21, 2023, Cheyenne Benthin’s worst nightmare became her reality when she discovered her son, Heston, unresponsive. She immediately called 911, and emergency personnel were on the scene within minutes. Heston was pronounced dead in the very room his mother put him and his sister to bed just hours before.
On July 22, 2023, Dr. Amber Wang, MD (Medical Doctor), with the Maricopa County Arizona Medical Examiner’s Office, performed Heston’s autopsy with Gilbert Police Department Detective Sabrina Liban present. Although the Medical Examiner’s final report was not immediately available, Detective Liban knew from her attendance at the autopsy that Heston was not a victim of homicide. Despite this knowledge, Detective Liban subjected Cheyenne and her then-boyfriend, now husband, Bailey, to a several hours-long intense and accusatory interrogation on July 26, 2023. Cheyenne fully cooperated with Detective Liban because she, too, wanted answers as to what happened to her son.
In October of 2023, the Medical Examiner’s report was released and clearly stated that the manner of Heston’s death was natural and that the cause of death was “[p]robable febrile seizure in the setting of acute respiratory viral illness.” Additionally, Cheyenne opted to pay for an independent autopsy while awaiting results from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner. Former Maricopa County Medical Examiner Philip Keen, MD, performed the independent autopsy. His conclusions are consistent with the findings from the first autopsy performed by Dr. Wang.
Within days of Heston’s death, Cheyenne’s daughter’s father (who is not Heston’s father) filed for (and received) emergency temporary custody with the family court because Detective Liban informed him of the open investigation. She told him that Heston had extensive bruising on his body, which Detective Liban believed was proof of child abuse and possible homicide.
After the Medical Examiner’s final report was issued in October of 2023, Detective Liban informed the father of Cheyenne’s daughter that the police were sending the autopsy results to “their child abuse expert” due to the “extensive bruising” she claims was present on Heston’s body. Detective Liban assured him that “the county attorney was waiting [on the child abuse expert’s report] to bring charges.”
The Medical Examiner’s report addresses Detective Liban’s concerns and definitively states: “Heston had no injuries suggestive of ongoing abuse or of being battered. No findings in this case are suggestive of foul play.”
Detective Liban’s refusal to close the investigation violates Cheyenne’s parental and civil rights. A factually innocent mother has now lost her son and daughter.
Detective Liban’s confirmation bias set in early on in this investigation. Due to this bias, she has continued attempting to find guilt where none exists.
This case should have been closed in October 2023, after two autopsies confirmed Heston died of natural causes.
UPDATE: As of July 2024, The Maricopa County Attorney’s office has declined to prosecute Cheyenne and the Gilbert Police Department has officially CLOSED their case! Thank you to everyone who emailed expressing your concerns about this case. You Are The Power was specifically mentioned as thousands of emails poured in!