7-Year-Old Boy Predicts His Own Murder

I knew the things he told me. I knew how afraid the thing was to be in that house. He had a named cherish for at least a month. We'll try to protect you, so you don't get hurt anymore. How many people were in your house, but then two. I fight back. I hold it myself off. Imagine setting your makeup, then forgetting it's even theirs. Meet new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Gel-to-miss technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours, with flexible, all day comfy grip. No tightness, no stickiness, no residue. Just plump, dewy, hydrated skin that still feels like your skin. Try new, grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Maybe it's Mabelie! Up this, all is like head. I know. Just remind me of that one. It's horrible. You don't do something like that to a child. Oregon, Illinois, February 17, 2021. At approximately 2.35 a.m., 911 receives a desperate call for help. A woman says her son isn't breathing. Oregon PD rushes to her home, located on the 400-block of South Tenth Street. When they arrive 34-year-old Sarah Sofranick tells police she woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. On her way back to bed, she stopped in to check on her 7-year-old son, Nathaniel Burton. When Sarah leans down to kiss his forehead, she noticed he was cold. His skin was blue, and he wasn't breathing. Sarah directs police to her son's bedroom, where officers find Nathaniel on the floor next to his bed. His father is administering CPR. Paramedics arrive and transport Nathaniel to a nearby hospital. Sadly, it's too late. An hour later, at approximately 3.25 a.m., Nathaniel is pronounced dead. Later that same morning, as the sun rises and news of Nathaniel's death makes its way through this small riverside town, the community is in shock. Was it a freak accident? What caused this seemingly healthy young boy to die so suddenly and unexpectedly? February 18, 2021. The next morning, the county coroner performs Nathaniel's autopsy. The results are bone-chilling. Nathaniel's death was no accident. He was suffocated to death. Nathaniel's death is ruled a homicide. Detectives obtain a search warrant for the house and call in the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigations Unit to process the scene. During the search of Nathaniel's bedroom, investigators note something odd. There's no sleeping pillow on his bed, or in the room, just a donut-shaped pillow on the floor. When they remove the bed sheets, they make a grizzly discovery. Blood stains on Nathaniel's mattress near where his head would lay. Outside, investigators search the trash and find bloody tissues inside a garbage bag. But it's what they don't find that sets off alarm bells. There's no evidence of a break-in or an intruder. The only two people in the house when Nathaniel was murdered were his mother and his father. At the police station, a detective sits down with Nathaniel's father and he doesn't mince words. Okay, so her son was suffocated, the pathologist, that's the doctor that tells the autopsy and then gets the results, but that didn't happen on his own. He was suffocated by somebody else. There's only you and Sarah in that house when we ask you first to use suffocating or something. Okay, so you are in an incredibly tough position right now, okay? You're here in the spot between your wife that you love and your dad's son. But in your mind, you know if I didn't suffocate him, she did. Okay, I get it, cause death is suffocated, but is there a possibility he possibly did that himself? No. The detective asks Nathaniel's father to walk him through his son's final hours. So you're going back to your dream book? Yeah, I wrote a book. So, 8/8/30, you read to him, they call it a library. No. No. I didn't usually talk about him, he kissed me, had some kisses, I called bad, and he said, "Okay, go around, light shop, do you set an R or can go?" He keep it open a little bit, usually so some light goes in there. After he said goodnight to his son, Nathaniel's father joined Sarah in the living room. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours, with flexible all-day comfy grip. No tightness. No stickiness. No residue. Just plump, dewy, hydrated skin, that still feels like your skin. Try new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Maybe it's Mabelie. And they watched TV together, around 9 p.m. he says he left Sarah in the living room and went to bed. So then, you go in, you go back in, you fall asleep 9/9/30 somewhere around here, and watch the next thing you remember it. I'm getting woke up, melody, 2/2/30 in the morning. He's not breathing. He's not breathing. Okay. How is she? Is she? Do you hear her from the bedroom? Yellow? Or is she coming to bed? I open up my eyes and she's like right into our way, he's not breathing. He says he grabbed his cell phone and ran to Nathaniel's room. That's where I saw he was pale and turned purple. I don't know where, that his wife was already on the phone with 9/1/1. He called 9/1/1/2. So I pulled him off the bed, like I was instructed on the phone to start a TPR and tell whoever showed him. So for from 9/30 to 2/30, you don't know what happened between Sarah and your son. All I know is what happened from time I got out. The detective senses he's not being completely forthcoming, but for now Nathaniel's father is free to leave. He turns his attention to his other prime suspect, Sarah. Okay, Sarah. I know what happened that night. Okay, I feel bad for you that it happened, but I know what happened. And now's our time. We gotta talk about this and figure out why this happened. Does this trying to be pan-doned? That's been orn-might. Oh. Let's say that again. My husband orn-might. Well, that's time for the situation where orn-might, your son died due to suffocation. Okay. He died due to suffocation. How many people were in your house then? Two. Okay. Sarah, we have to be honest about what happened here and explain it to you. I'm here to listen to what happened. Explain it to you, Sarah. I know you want to have some pain and kill me. Fine. And how did it happen? I know, no. I know. I know. I know. That night before his bed, it was 10 o'clock. He was fine. My husband right him. I know. I know. I know. Everything was fine. I know he was fine. I'm until he wasn't up until somebody went in there and suffocated him. I did not hurt him. I don't do this here. I don't have any to get in. I did not hurt anyone. I was hurt. Yeah. I do. At this point, police have to let Sarah go. Then Nathaniel's paternal grandmother comes forward and what she reveals blows the lid off the investigation. Okay. It's lovely to be known. We're here talking about today. So the autopsy was done yesterday and the preliminary cause of death there was suffocation. Tell me why you're not surprised to hear that. That's the name. He didn't have told me several times. Mama comes in, puts a pillow over his face, at words, "Can't breathe." - Like when he's in bed? - Yes. - She has been, he's also said, "She jumped high." - And she's a big boy? - Yes. - And he can't breathe. - Yeah, okay. - So it was like during the night. - A while, days, uh, sleeping, so he said, "Oh, daddy's sleeping." - Yeah, I said, "Oh, dad, you're supposed to go on that." - Right, okay. - That's not all little Nathaniel can fight it in her. - So, uh, yeah, the bathtub, daddy had to cry for me off of me, because she was trying to get drunk. That was in the bathtub. Yeah, he had a puller off him, which he was holding under the water of the bathtub. The violence didn't end there. - I was in the bathroom with Nathan, black and blue flowers. And I don't want to fly in the house where the black and blue is all over his back. - Nathaniel's grandmother says she told her son about seeing the bruises on Nathaniel's back, and she confronted him about the bathtub incident. - So when you confronted him, he told me you had to pull a syrup off of him. - He said, "Yeah, I did." - Yeah, did you? What happened through there? - Nathaniel. - Then he mentioned that Sarah and Sarah don't mad, and she didn't know anything about that. Was BCF us told about that? - We were free for everything, and they blow it off. What I had called the hotline, they told me if it's not seriously injured, or a hospital life, they couldn't do nothing. - The detective notes that her son never mentioned these incidents to him. - Imagine setting your makeup, then forgetting it's even theirs. Meet new groupie setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours, with flexible all day comfy grip. Try new groupie setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Maybe it's Mabeliein. - In his police interview. - So, interviewed him yesterday. It was kinda like he didn't know anything. How can we get (beep) to admit more of this stuff that he knew of us? Tell me the truth, he is scared of her. Do you have any doubt in your mind what happened? - I'm positive she did. - The New York Conservatives gonna happen before it happened. Right, and he kind of told me, made them himself told you it was gonna happen. Almost exactly, but I mean, you can tell you been told me several times. Mama doesn't want me. - When police meet with Sarah's own mother, she gives a statement that is just as direct and damning. - I love Sarah, but I'm curious, man. That's my grand son. And you're here because you believe she told her son. - You know what, I know she did it before the quarter called and told me he was suffocated and I didn't do it. - She said, sometimes, when he comes into the room and she sits by me like she's mothering me and I said, "What do you mean?" She said, "Sometimes it's a pillow." He said, "Sometimes she's got a blanket around her and she's leaned on him." And I said, "Well, do you get up?" And he's like, "Yeah, I get up and I get up." And so, he was terrified to be there with her. - He made Donna, so he thought she was the worst mother. - Yeah, he told me straight up. He was like, "She's got some mother made around me one day." I knew what she treated him. I knew how afraid the thing was to be in that house with her. I knew when I called DCFS last year, trying to get him out of that house and they didn't do anything. - Okay, so say to say at this point you had no doubt that it was very low. - I am sick to my stomach. I literally threw up yesterday. I am sick knowing that my child finally did what we thought she'd do. I wouldn't have hated him, but he was a burden to her. - So if she did kill him, he'd think that's why. Just because she saw him as a burden, I don't know. - As the focus of their investigation, quickly narrows in on Sarah. Detectives learn she has a history of mental health issues and prescription drug and alcohol abuse. They also look into the claims made by Nathaniel's grandmothers that they and others had flagged his abuse to Illinois's Department of Children and Family Services. What they find is troubling, based on records between 2018 and 2021. DCFS visited Sarah's house to investigate multiple claims of child abuse and neglect, but charges were never filed and Nathaniel remained in her care. February 23rd, 2021. As days go by and the investigation remains open, the community gathers for a candlelight vigil to honor the little boy his teachers described as very smart and a sweetheart. Either Sarah nor Nathaniel's father attend the vigil, but after speaking with his mother, Nathaniel's father meets with police again. - Okay, well, I have asked you for anything you've seen happen between him and Sarah. But we don't even talk about the last interview, which we're talking here now, and I just wanna have you tell me now, because I talked to your mother and your mother told me that she told you about things over the years that she witnessed her stuff. So I know you at least know about that, but I know there's other things that you've seen over time. You've been more time to think about it right now. And you said maybe that day when I first talked to you, it was so soon after you didn't have a clear head. It was over your sand. I still don't have a clear head, but try to remember. - Okay, okay, so what I brought up was that incident where you guys, Nathaniel had gone in your mom's, in your mom, she said that once she saw him, he had burst his lungs back, you know, okay? And can you tell me, you know about that? Yes, okay, tell me exactly. - Anyway, I don't know, I don't really remember what it was all about, but it was too early to get there. - I don't know. I was thinking maybe a couple years back, didn't get a couple years? Yeah, that's something that happened, basically. And with her cane, I had pulled her off. She was heading out, where was she heading back? I'm back, yeah, when she was using her cane. Yeah, where was that happening at in the living room? And you didn't know why at that time? - No, I'm sure what it was all about. Where was he standing or laying? He was starting to crouch over and I just had to walk in, think I was coming out of the bathroom at the time. And I really had pulled her off. So she was hidden and went to cane in the back. - Yeah. - And you grab her, you made her stop the fear. So what was Nathaniel saying or doing while she was hidden? Please stop, please stop. So, okay, so then the instruments will you talk about your wear of her in the back of the cane? Do you discourage that situation? Your mom told you of that. Nathaniel said she held him under the water of the tub. - Okay. - What about when he has pulled her that she smaller's in? - Put the tub over his head. What did you, did she explode you about that? - That had not. - No. - I don't believe she had this, but the more I think about things, I'm sure it will pop up. - Despite admitting that he witnessed Sarah harm Nathaniel on multiple occasions, Nathaniel's father still express his doubts. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all day comfy grip. Just plump, dewy hydrated skin that still feels like your skin. - Maybe it's Mabelie. - It's about her guilt. - You never, after seeing all this, you're in all this. You never thought, there's something's not right here. - I knew it was your birth graph. Yes, I never thought she would kill our son. Curse lay, I don't know how true that is. I know you're saying it's true. Hard to read a little bit right now. Why tell me a reason and why you can? believe it. Because wow. "All this time I thought she was just playing with her." As Nathaniel's father remains indeniable about his wife's potential guilt, police get a tip. An employee at a nearby car wash that Sarah Frequence has discovered a pillow inside a dumpster. Police retrieve the pillow and send it off for forensic testing. They also obtain surveillance video from the car wash, hoping it might show who dumped the pillow and when. What starts out as a promising lead ends in disappointment. The video gives them nothing, whoever dumped the pillow wasn't caught on tape, and there's no forensic evidence on the pillow that conclusively ties it to Nathaniel's death. Despite these dead ends, detectives are convinced Sarah is their killer. As they continue interviewing witnesses and building their case against her, a conversation with Nathaniel's godmother yields new disturbing details and new evidence. Nathaniel's godmother says she first came to know Sarah and her family through church. In 2014, less than a year after Sarah gave birth to Nathaniel, his daycare reported her to DCFS, so the godmother and her husband Nathaniel's godfather stepped in and offered to foster him. When Nathaniel was placed in their care, physical signs of neglect were visibly evident. He had scratches on his body, and a large egg-sized lump on the back of his head. There were other signs too. At one point, with Sarah and her mother's blessing, his godparents attempted to gain custody of Nathaniel, however, a judge eventually ended up awarding sole custody to Nathaniel's father, who was living with his own mother at the time. One after he and Sarah got back together, and for the next several years, Nathaniel bounced back and forth between his parents and his godparents. Nathaniel's godmother describes in heart-wrenching detail what it was like handing Nathaniel back over to his parents. Over the years, she and her husband contacted authorities to report their concerns. She also collected evidence of her own, cell phone videos she filmed of Nathaniel describing some of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother. "So tell me that again, she did what? You were in the bathtub, everybody?" "Yeah." "And you already had water going?" "I turned it off." "Yeah? I'm not aware. She came in there?" "Yeah. And she tried to get me in and out with me." "Oh, she grabbed my neck and tried to put my hand on your water." "Could you head under water?" "Yup." "And what did you do?" "I fired it back." "You fired it back?" "I hooded myself up as hard as I can." "Well, that's horrible. You don't do something like that to a child, do you?" "Yup." "No, I'm confused. What really happened?" "So what did Mama Sarah do to you?" "She slapped me, punched me." "She slapped you and punched you?" "Yeah." "Where at?" "In the light?" "No, here." "In your face?" "And then she. " Imagine setting your makeup, then forgetting it's even theirs. Meet new groupie setting mist from Maybelline, New York. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours, with flexible, all-day-gum v-grip. Try new, groupie setting mist from Maybelline, New York. "Maybe it's Maybelline!" "I'm screwed." "Ouch." "Did you cry?" "Yeah, I cried so loud." "Did you?" "Did you say she was sorry for hitting you?" "She didn't say she was sorry." "She just walked away and got back from the front seat of the con-drill." "Oh, okay." "Did you have lumps on that for a couple days or just. " "Oh, this is one day." "One day, then, I went away." "Yeah." "Was it like right here or right over here?" "Oh, and your job." "Yeah." "I don't know." "I don't know." "Anyway." "Why?" "Am I not supposed to tell anyone?" "Yeah, because you'll get everyone in trouble and I'll get in trouble and then I'll be more groupie." "Oh, is that what she tells you not to tell anybody?" "Yeah." "Oh, okay." "But I don't care because I have to tell the truth." "Do you?" "Okay." "But don't tell who's going to show me so much." "Yeah, well, Papa will try to protect you, okay?" "We won't tell anybody but we'll try to protect you so you don't get hurt anymore." "Is that the only thing she's done to you since you were here last?" "Oh, I forgot." "Okay." "Okay, that's fine." "Well, we'll just have to pray and hopefully Jesus will get you here sooner or even later, right?" "Well, he's working it out, right? Is he working it out?" "Yeah, he's never going to work it out." "Well, you know mom and papa love each other, right?" "Well, we don't have that in real." "Do you like it here?" "You like being here?" "Well, you like being here?" "Well, you like being here?" "Well, you like being here or not?" "Well, you like being here or not?" The videos are undeniably incriminating, but there's more jaw-dropping evidence to come. During their search of the crime scene, police seized Sarah's cell phone. In March of 2021, police manually search her phone. And what they find in her Google search history becomes the nail in her coffin. On April 21, 2021, the state of Illinois charges 34-year-old Sarah Sofranik with five counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery to a child in connection with her son's death. Her bail is set at $2 million. Despite questions surrounding whether he knew his wife was violent and abusive towards their son, prosecutors opt not to pursue any charges against Nathaniel's father. Unable to make bail, Sarah remains in jail awaiting trial. Despite the mountain of evidence stacked against her, she maintains her innocence. In May of 2021, she writes a letter to one of the detectives stating, "You have the wrong person in custody." She points the finger at Nathaniel's father and says, "My children are my world. I did not kill my son." Four years after Nathaniel's death, she changes her tune. On November 15, 2025, Sarah Sofranik pleads guilty to murdering her son. A judge sentences her to 35 years in prison, followed by three years of mandatory supervised release. Finally, there is justice for Nathaniel Burton. But it's a hollow victory—his life was the price paid for it. For years Nathaniel pleaded for help. He even predicted his own cruel fate. In the end, no one came to save him. If you or someone you know suspects a child might be the victim of abuse and/or neglect, help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week via the Child Help National Child Abuse Hotline. Call 800-422-4453 or text begin to 800-422-4453 or visit www.childhelphotline.org. (gentle music)