The Oprah Winfrey Show
Why Are These Child Killers Out Of Prison?

PJ This is PJ's story...read it...feel it...then ask yourself "What does this have to do with me?"


In Columbus, Ohio, on February 27, 1996, 3-year-old Patrick Bourgeois Jr., known as PJ, refused to eat his dinner. The following morning, paramedics were called to his home to answer a report that a child was having difficulty breathing. The paramedics arrived shortly thereafter, only to find no one who would let them into the Bourgeois home. The paramedics banged on the door and could hear arguing inside. The people refusing to open the door were PJ's father, Patrick Bourgeois and his father's girlfriend, Tracy Lynn Bratton. Finally, they opened the door and the paramedics saw the 3-year-old boy's lifeless body on the floor. They also saw shocking signs of abuse.

"It just seemed to me as if PJ had been tortured. In order to get bruising like that and bite marks like that, to me that's torture. I saw on PJ's wrists and ankles what appeared to be the remnants left from some sort of tape or adhesive." — Mike Bates, Paramedic

Who would do this to an innocent child?
Patrick Bourgeois and Tracy Lynn Bratton gave several versions about the night of February 27, 1996, before they admitted to biting and taping the child. The police went back to the home looking for clues. Blood splatters near the floor, on the bottom of the refrigerator, and on the bottom of the cabinets—they found PJ's last night alive was one of terror.

"The first time I saw PJ's body, I asked myself, What the heck happened here? The patient had suffered such head trauma that there was bleeding on the brain. We found that blood was coming out of his nose and mouth. He basically choked to death on his own blood." —Dr. Patrick M. Fardal, Forensic Pathologist

Dr. Fardal's conclusion: homicide by child abuse.

Child Killers Set Free Mugshots
The police turned their findings over to the prosecutors with confidence that justice would be served. In PJ's story, justice was not served. PJ's killers were both released early from their prison sentences.

Two key decisions played a role in such injustice. Prosecutors charged PJ's father, Patrick Bourgeois, and his girlfriend, Tracy Lynn Bratton, with involuntary manslaughter instead of aggravated murder— which would have required proof of intent to kill. Prosecutors believed that, even with the lower charge, they could put the child killers in jail for a significant number of years. Also, in exchange for guilty pleas, defense attorneys asked for something called supershock probation.

"Supershock probation allows the sentencing judge to release the criminal from prison after they have served a minimum but not all terms of imprisonment. I think prosecutors agreed to take no position on the supershock motion because they did not believe it would be granted by a trial judge." —Ron O'Brien, Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney

PJ's killers were sentenced to 7-25 years in jail, but Tracy Bratton was released after only 3 years and 2 months. Patrick Bourgeois served only 3 years and 10 months for his son's death. Judge Nodine Miller released them early. She believed the couple's actions were, "fraught with ignorance, immaturity, and inexperience more than malevolence."

Now that you know PJ's story, what will you do differently to help make sure that other children do not suffer the same fate as this 3-year-old innocent boy?

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