2023-08-24 00:42:30
A Montana woman, identified as Patricia Batts, who pleaded guilty to torturing and killing her 12-year-old grandson more than three years ago, has been sentenced to life in prison.. This was reported by the Associated Press news agency.
Batts, 51, pleaded guilty in May to willful murder in the death of James “Alex” Hurley on February 3, 2020. in West Yellowstone, in a deal reached following prosecutors gave up seeking the death penalty.
The Associated Press reported that Batts was sentenced Tuesday in District Court in Bozeman.
“This is a horrible case of child abuse. It was totally unnecessary and done maliciously,” said John C. Brown, District Judge, as reported by NBC-Montana.
According to information from the Associated Press, Batts also pleaded guilty to criminally endangering the child by failing to seek medical help for Alex following he suffered life-threatening injuries..
Besides, Batts also pleaded guilty to witness tampering for attempting to get family members to provide false statements to investigators, according to the Justice Department. Batts received 10-year sentences for each of those charges..
The officials who carried out the autopsy indicated that Alex died due to blunt force trauma to the back of his head.. He also had bruises and wounds all over his body, according to court records.
Gallatin County prosecutors alleged that Alex was beaten and starved. Investigators found videos of the boy being tortured and punished on cellphones seized from family members.
Judge Brown called the video evidence the most “horrific” he had seen during his time in court. At the time of his death, Hurley was “emaciated,” “starved” and had been subjected to “forced exercises” as well as routine beatings, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.
Prosecutors further said that Batts created the environment that encouraged Alex’s abuse.
Batts has been in prison since his arrest just over a week following Alex’s death..
Keep reading:
– FBI offers $25,000 reward for information on Hispanic girl who disappeared in Florida in 1982
– Hispanic is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing a California student in 1996 whose body was never found
– Hawaii man charged with manslaughter freed on new DNA evidence following serving 23 years in prison
1692839878
#Montana #woman #sentenced #life #prison #torturing #murdering #12yearold #grandson
