Palmdale couple sentenced to life in prison for toddler’s beating death

A Palmdale woman and her boyfriend were sentenced Monday to life in state prison for the brutal beating of the woman’s 23-month-old son, who was left in a vegetative state for weeks before he died.

Brandon Jerel Williams, 27, was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison after he was found guilty of first-degree murder, torture and assault on a child causing death, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

His 23-year-old girlfriend, Rosie Lee Wilson, was convicted of second-degree murder and child abuse and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors said the fatal beating occurred Aug. 21, 2014, when Wilson left her son with Williams, her live-in boyfriend.

When she returned, prosecutors said, the boy had “massive” bruising all over his body, including on his head and groin.

Wilson tried to conceal the child’s injuries with makeup and baby powder, and didn’t take the boy to the hospital until the following afternoon, the district attorney’s office said.

The boy, Anthony Wilson, was hospitalized in a vegetative state until his death in October 2014, prosecutors said. Coroner’s reports showed that the boy had broken bones in both arms, broken ribs and other severe injuries.

Weeks earlier, the child’s mother had left the toddler with Williams and when she returned, found the boy limping with several injuries, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said that in the months before the fatal beating, Williams struck the child multiple times in the head and screamed at the boy. Wilson did not seek medical care for her son after the beatings, authorities said.

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek

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