Tuscaloosa woman sentenced to 40 years in prison for murder of infant son
The Tuscaloosa Police Department announced a Tuscaloosa woman has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing her infant son who died after spending more than a year on life support due to injuries sustained from an incident in 2018.
Lakendra Yashekia Williams, 25, was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail on the murder charge in Feb. 2019. She was handed her sentence Tuesday by Judge Daniel Pruet.
According to court records, Demarious Kamari Henry was less two months old when he was found unresponsive and rushed to DCH Regional Medical Center on Jan. 28, 2018. The child suffered head fractures and bleeding in the brain, before going into cardiac arrest. The child was later airlifted to Children's of Alabama.
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According to police, the baby's father had called 911 in a panic that morning. His son usually cried and fussed when the water was filling the sink for a bath but that morning, the baby had remained silent and sleepy. Doctors discovered multiple skull fractures and bleeding in the child's brain, which led to his cardiac arrest.
During their first interview at the hospital that day, Williams told Investigator Dornell Cousette with the Tuscaloosa PD that she had dropped her baby in the kitchen. She later told him she may have elbowed him in her sleep. Cousette continued to press her until she admitted to harming the child because he was being "whiny."
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Williams originally faced first degree assault charges. She was charged with murder more than a year later after Henry died on Feb. 11, 2019.
Court documents showed the 25-year-old mother may have been trying to flee when she was arrested three days later. Law enforcement officers found her in a motel with a man who had been informed of the warrant against Williams.
Investigators also recovered a photo from Williams phone showing the child with an apparent black eye and busted lip that appeared to pre-date being dropped on his head.
