"To be clear there is no salvation for people involved in this murder"

(Photo of Tyson given to me by by Cami Cooper-Claros)

For years, some members of Tyson Claros' family had to sit in court and watch the legal proceedings for five defendants charged with the death of their son slowly drag on. Family members who couldn't be in court grieved from a distance. 

Today, through victim impact statements Tyson Claros' family finally got to express the heart wrenching grief and loss. Their statements were powerful, heart breaking and even some of the defendant's families wiped their tears.  Tyson Claros' family and family members of the three defendants have expressed the pain every family is going through today as well as other times before court.

The family members were not happy with the pleas and spoke bluntly about the criminal justice system, the DA's office and a detective on the case.

First, Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Schaffer read a statement on behalf of the family. Tyson Claros' mother and stepfather Christina and Mike Dennison  and his stepmother Cami Cooper-Claros spoke. Tyson Claros' dad, Eddie was so overcome with emotion, he didnt address the court as originally planned.

Family statement:

"On behalf of family and friends, we wish to have this read or heard by you so that you may understand our feelings about the loss of our beloved Tyson Claros."


"At the loss of any family member or friend,the deep sense of loss and disbelief is felt by those left behind."

"All of us believe we will never get over our grief. To talk about him in the past tense is still unimaginable."

"Tyson was taken from us heartlessly and with malice."

As this statement was read, Tyson Claros' father put his head down with his wife supporting him. Sobs could be heard from Tyson's family. Eddie  and Cami Claros have been at every hearing.

Christina Dennison:

"Tyson was everyone's friend. His devotion to them ultimately cost him his life." She spoke of memories giving a glimpse into  Tyson Claros a child and young man and the loss of future memories.

Mike Dennison:

"My son, Tyson was three years old when he came into my life. As a kid, he was the first to accept me into the family."

Initially, he kept breaking down in tears and could not finish speaking. " To be clear, there is no salvation for people involved in this murder."

 "These are drug abusing adults with evil intent in their hearts."

Regarding the criminal justice system, he said, "It is truly for criminals; not victims. Here we three years later with defense attorneys celebrating plea deals as less than three years."

Mike Dennison said that a detective made a mistake that would have created doubt in trial.

"I apologize for the truth to the good people in this community."

"You have two more chances to do the right thing with Catie and Cesar."

Cami Cooper Claros:

"Tyson Eduardo Claros was a son, a brother, a cousin, a nephew, an uncle, a friend and a grandson. He was not the object of a trial."

She also spoke about the loving, passionate person Tyson Claros was and the forever loss that the family feels.

"When Tyson was murdered, we promised him that since he couldn't be here to speak for himself that we would be his voice."

"You can never imagine the feeling of failure when you have not protected your son from evil people who murdered him."

Cami Cooper Claros spoke against all three plea deals.

"Just because someone throws out an accusation and Brandon chose to believe it, even when it was proven twice that the child had never been molested by anyone, let alone Tyson. Tyson was never cleared of any charges because there were never any charges to bring against him. Because of Brandon's actions,our family is forever altered."