This case was unbelievably heartbreaking when I first read it. Sophia Williams would serve a life plus 10-year sentence for killing her 4-year-old son, Anthony Vice. DeKalb County court sentenced Williams after her conviction in August on such serious charges as malice murder, felony murder, cruelty to children, and aggravated battery.
On March 6, 2022, little Anthony was found lifeless on the floor of the apartment. The first responders reported no heartbeat and observed bruising from head to toe. He was rushed to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where, sadly, he was pronounced dead.
During questioning, Williams stated that Anthony was not toilet-trained. She told police that when Anthony did not obey her commands, she punished him by hitting him with her hand, a house slipper, a purse strap, and a charging cord. She claimed Anthony accidentally struck his head about a week earlier and maintained that she was not responsible for any injury he might have sustained, although the forensic evidence suggested otherwise.
It was a 13-year-old kid, Kevin Mr. Williams’s child, who testified that that day Sophia “whooped” Anthony, then he seemed to lose his balance, and fall to the floor, non-responsive. Investigators stated Williams put Anthony up on her bed, poured water on him, which brought him back to consciousness very briefly, but then he became unresponsive again. Prosecutors found out that she had been searching on her phone for terms like “remedy for concussion” and “coma-symptoms and causes” that very night.
At around 5:00 a.m. on the morning of March 6, Anthony was completely limp, making low grunting sounds, and it was at this time that Williams thought he had stopped breathing. Williams first called Anthony’s father and later, at 6:26 a.m., called 911. She admitted the delay was due to concern about the bruises covering his body.
The autopsy concluded that death resulted from blunt force trauma to the head. Investigators affirmed that he would have survived had help been summoned at the first sign of trauma.
This case hurts to read. Anthony was a little boy, and something as innocuous as potty training should never have ended in tragedy. Talk about the lethal consequences of child abuse, and remember the importance of timely intervention when children are in danger. You may also be interested in: Adopted Boy Locked in Basement for 18 Hours a Day Before Death Shocks Everyone
