Stepfather Pleads Guilty to Suppling Alcohol to Boy Who Drowned in Meramec River

The stepfather of Christopher Marks, a 12-year-old Affton boy who drowned in the Meramec River in August , plead guilty on Thursday to seven charges of second-degree child endangerment for supplying alcohol to Marks and six other minors.

Todd Combs, 42, of the 7800 block of LaBelle Street in Affton, will be sentenced June 24, according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The charges are all misdemeanors and the paper reported that the plea was not pursuant to any deal with prosecutors.

Marks disappeared during a group outing at Pacific Palisades Conservation Area near Eureka last summer, sparking an intensive search involving search-and-rescue teams from the entire St. Louis region.

Combs himself discovered Marks body several days later about six miles east from where the boy was last seen playing on a rope swing.

According to police, Combs provided alcohol for Marks and six teens during the Aug. 5 outing. However, prosecutors stopped short of bringing more serious manslaughter charges, saying they are unable to prove how much, if any, of a role alcohol played in the boy’s death. 

Related stories:

• Christopher Marks' Stepfather Seeks Treatment While Court Hearing is Delayed
• Prosecutor: Christopher Marks' Death Caused by Stepfather's 'Criminal Conduct'
• Stepfather of Drowned Christopher Marks Charged With Endangering Children