Video evidence, an autopsy and a child welfare timeline preceded life sentences for Amanda Edwards and Nathan Cullins.
LAKEVIEW, Ore. — What began as a juvenile-death investigation at a Lakeview home in February 2025 ultimately became a murder case that sent two adults to prison for life after investigators found Thomas Strong’s body, documented long-term abuse and recovered recordings authorities said showed abuse inside the home.
The progression of the case is reflected in the difference between its earliest publicly reported charges and its final judgments. Local court reporting shortly after Strong’s body was discovered said his mother, Amanda Edwards, and her longtime partner, Nathan Cullins, initially faced criminally negligent homicide, second-degree abuse of a corpse and first-degree criminal mistreatment. Cullins was also accused at the time of unlawful use of a weapon. By July 2026, Cullins had been convicted of first-degree murder and Edwards of murder by abuse, with each also convicted of second-degree abuse of a corpse and first-degree criminal mistreatment.
The sentences were severe even by the standards of life imprisonment. Cullins, 33, received his sentence July 21 and cannot seek parole for at least 35 years, according to the Oregon Department of Justice. Edwards, 40, was sentenced July 27 to life with no possibility of parole for at least 25 years. Those periods establish the earliest point at which parole may be considered; they do not provide for automatic release. State prosecutors announced the outcomes July 30, ending the principal criminal proceedings stemming from Strong’s death.
The investigation began on Feb. 18, 2025, when authorities went to the residence after the Oregon Department of Human Services obtained a child protective custody order from Lake County Circuit Court. The order was intended to remove Strong from the home. Instead, officials discovered his body in a cardboard box in the garage, the Justice Department said. Oregon State Police took the lead in the investigation, assisted by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The circumstances immediately required investigators to reconstruct not only what happened to Strong but how long he had been dead and what had occurred before officials arrived.
The autopsy supplied one of the most consequential findings. The Justice Department said Strong had suffered extensive injuries from long-term abuse and ultimately died of blunt-force trauma. Investigators also recovered video footage showing abuse, according to prosecutors, and state officials said the defendants had recorded the material themselves. Public statements have not disclosed the full contents of those recordings, and there is no need to reproduce graphic detail to understand their significance: law enforcement regarded them as evidence of the abuse under investigation.
Strong was 17 when his body was discovered, but an independent review later raised a narrower question about his age when he actually died. His obituary says he was born Feb. 17, 2008. Disability Rights Oregon estimated that he died on or about Feb. 1, 2025, and had been dead for two to three weeks before authorities entered the property. That estimate would mean he was 16 at death. The state Justice Department and later news accounts commonly described him as 17 because officials found him on Feb. 18, one day after his birthday.
The evidence collected at the home formed only one part of the prosecution’s background. Investigators and prosecutors also had a lengthy record showing that concern about Strong had been building since the previous fall. He had attended Lakeview High School, where his obituary says he enjoyed art, drawing and cooking and had friends who looked out for him. In November 2024, Edwards abruptly pulled him out of school, according to the Justice Department. Child welfare officials then began receiving reports raising concerns about possible abuse and neglect.
That sequence became clearer in a later investigation by Disability Rights Oregon. The nonprofit reviewed child welfare records, school records and interviews and said Strong’s last day at school was Nov. 15, 2024. It found that a Dec. 11 hotline report described major weight loss and his prolonged absence from school but was screened out. A second report following a home visit by a principal and school resource officer raised additional concerns and was also screened out, according to the group. The Department of Human Services opened an investigation after a third report on Dec. 17.
Once the state opened the case, workers interviewed Strong and Edwards in December and sought records, Disability Rights Oregon reported. The organization said that direct contact with Strong then largely stopped even as the investigation remained active. School employees continued communicating their concerns. A health care provider had not seen Strong since August 2024, and a mental health provider reported that an appointment was never arranged. The advocacy group concluded that state workers relied too heavily on messages, referrals and Edwards’ voluntary cooperation instead of repeatedly observing Strong in person.
That record provides context for the eventual custody order but should not be confused with the proof underlying every criminal count. The Justice Department’s public sentencing announcement did not publish a detailed evidentiary narrative matching each fact to each conviction. It confirmed the body’s location, the autopsy findings, the abuse recordings, the defendants’ relationship to Strong, the earlier welfare concerns and the crimes of conviction. Other details about the child welfare response come from Disability Rights Oregon’s separate investigation and must be attributed to that organization rather than treated as findings made by the criminal court.
The Feb. 18 discovery also followed an escalation in efforts to reach the family. Disability Rights Oregon said Edwards participated by phone in a Feb. 6 school meeting where possible tutoring and services were discussed. Child welfare staff spoke with Cullins on Feb. 10. On Feb. 12, Strong’s maternal grandfather contacted the agency, said he had not seen the teenager since October and raised additional concerns about Edwards. Workers went to the home that day but did not make contact. Six days later, the department obtained the court order that finally gave officials authority to take Strong into protective custody.
After Strong was found, the prosecution moved through a much more serious charging posture than the early negligent-homicide allegations suggested. The Oregon Department of Justice did not provide a full public chronology of every amended charging document in its July 2026 announcement, so it would be inaccurate to assign a specific date or reason to each change without the underlying court record. What is established is the outcome: Cullins’ case ended with a first-degree murder conviction, while Edwards’ ended with murder by abuse, a distinct offense reflected in her final judgment.
The state prosecution was handled by the Oregon Department of Justice at the request of the Lake County district attorney. Senior Assistant Attorneys General Dan Wendel and Jayme Kimberly and Assistant Attorney General Elise Josephson served as lead prosecutors with assistance from the local district attorney’s office, the agency said. Oregon State Police led the investigation, while the Lake County Sheriff’s Office assisted. The combination of state prosecutors and state police reflected the scale of a case that had begun in a rural county but developed into a homicide prosecution involving extensive evidence and scrutiny of state agencies.
The convictions did not end examination of the government response before the killing. Disability Rights Oregon issued its report months before sentencing and sharply criticized the Department of Human Services. It said two early abuse reports should not have been screened out and argued that the department’s later investigation lacked sufficient direct contact and safety planning. The organization also challenged the state’s Critical Incident Review Team process, saying local child welfare employees with prior involvement in the case participated in review meetings even though state law restricts who may serve in such reviews.
The advocacy organization recommended requiring regular in-person assessment of children in open cases, clearer standards for screening reports, stronger safety planning and automatic attention to developmental-disability services when a child with a known disability is involved. It also urged lawmakers to make critical-incident reviews more independent and to require public follow-up on whether recommendations are implemented. Those proposals do not alter the convictions against Edwards and Cullins, but they show how Strong’s case extended beyond a traditional homicide investigation into a debate over institutional safeguards.
The legal record can also obscure who Strong was before investigators and prosecutors entered his life. His obituary says he was born in Florida, lived for years in Texas and later made Lakeview home. He liked drawing, cooking, swimming, fishing, camping and Lego projects. He carried snacks, pulled a red wagon and made paper ties. The Justice Department said people at sentencing remembered those ties, including green ones he made for others, and recalled how easily he made friends. He would have graduated from Lakeview High School in 2026.
With Edwards and Cullins now serving life sentences, the criminal case has reached its punishment stage. Cullins must spend at least 35 years in prison and Edwards at least 25 years before parole consideration is possible. What remains outside the courtroom is the record of the months before Strong’s death — the reports, the missed school days, the efforts by teachers and relatives and the delay before a court order put officials inside the home. The murder convictions establish criminal responsibility for his death; the continuing child welfare debate concerns whether the danger could have been interrupted sooner.
Author note: Last updated September 8, 2026.