Macabre game may have led to murder

Former Oceansiders charged in Georgia case

Posted

According to documents revealed in a Georgia courtroom on Dec. 31, when Adam Garber wanted to play with his girlfriend’s sons, he would flip a coin, assigning one side of the coin to each of the young boys, and then beat whichever one lost the game.

Garber, 25, and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Calvo, 21, who lived in Oceanside until mid-December and now are accused of killing Calvo’s 2-year-old son, pointed fingers at each other, each telling police that the other was responsible for the child’s death, police said late last week.

Garber and Calvo, who moved to Norcross, Ga., just over a week before Aiden Calvo died on Dec. 22, have been charged with felony murder and child cruelty.

According to a story published in the Gwinnett Daily Post on Dec. 31, Aiden’s 5-year-old brother, Richard, told police about the simple game. The newspaper’s editor, Todd Cline, told the Herald that a probable cause hearing before a Gwinnett County magistrate judge that morning revealed that Garber and Calvo had a history of violence against both of Calvo’s children.

According to the Daily Post’s report, Gwinnett County Police Detective Sheila McMillan testified that the couple’s disdain focused especially on 2-year-old Aiden. “Aiden got all the injuries because Aiden couldn’t talk,” McMillan said, relaying what Calvo reportedly told a cellmate at the Gwinnett County jail.

Five-year-old Richard Calvo woke the couple up early on the morning of Dec. 16 when he realized that his brother could not be awakened. Blood was spattered on the walls and sheets in the boys’ bedroom at the Steeplechase Apartments in Norcross, as if Aiden had “coughed up blood” everywhere, McMillan said.

Garber called 911 that morning, and both he and Calvo claimed not to know anything about the toddler’s injuries. But even before Aiden succumbed to bleeding in his brain — believed to be what is known as shaken baby syndrome — Garber’s story changed. He reportedly turned on Calvo during police interviews, blaming the abuse on her.

Page 1 / 3