A Palmdale woman was sentenced this week to 15 years to life in prison, and her live-in boyfriend to 25 years to life, for the beating death of her 23-month-old son, who lingered in a vegetative state for more than a month.
Rosie Lee Wilson, 23, was found guilty of second-degree murder and child abuse in the 2014 death of her son, Anthony, and Brandon Jerel Williams, 27, was convicted of first-degree murder, torture and assault.
Williams moved in with Wilson in May 2014 and would frequently hit and scream at the toddler, according to evidence presented at trial.
In July 2014, Wilson left the toddler with Williams while she went to a karaoke bar. Her boyfriend beat the toddler, whose mother returned home to find her son limping with several injuries but failed to seek medical care or report what had happened, according to Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami.
In August 2014, when Wilson was away again at a karaoke bar, Williams beat the boy in an attack witnessed by her 3 1/2-year-old daughter, the prosecutor said.
Although the boy had massive bruising all over, including his head and groin, the couple waited until the next afternoon to take him to a hospital, where they claimed that he had been injured in a fall, the prosecutor said.
A nurse testified that the boy had caked-on make-up and baby powder all over him in an attempt to hide his injuries, Hatami said.
Two doctors testified that the boy would have had a good chance of surviving, if he had been taken to the hospital right away, according to the prosecutor. Instead, he remained hospitalized in a vegetative state for 41 days before he died on Oct. 5, 2014.
