The man convicted of fracturing his girlfriend’s infant daughter’s skull while she was away at work back in 2018 will spend the next 25 years in prison.
After serving his prison sentence, Demarcus Johnson will then serve five years on probation, a judge ruled Monday.
According to a press release from the office of the state attorney, Johnson tried to cover the crime up with lies when the 3-month-old baby’s mother arrived at her home on 122nd Avenue near University Mall in Tampa, Florida.
Johnson told his girlfriend that “nothing unusual happened” before she returned home from work that day and found her daughter unresponsive the morning of July 13, 2018.
The child survived the abuse due to life-saving emergency brain surgery after she was airlifted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.
A child abuse expert testified that the infant suffered such “violent, abusive” head trauma from being forcefully shaken and suffering a strong blow to the left side of her head that she lost the ability to move, eat or even cry.
“It’s really hard when you see Tyahni confined to a wheelchair,” Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said. “When you hear the testimony about how her skull was shattered into puzzle pieces…smashing the head of a 3-month-old. It’s almost hard to get your arms around how someone could do that to such an innocent child. But that’s why we’re satisfied with the outcome.“
During the trial, evidence was presented showing that the abuse left the 3-month-old with multiple skull fractures and internal bleeding. A doctor even described the child’s skull as broken into fragments like “puzzle pieces,” according to the office of the state attorney.
“She’s a sweetheart you know,” Tyreonna Williams said while describing her daughter to local news. “She’s very loving, caring. She will be disabled for the rest of her life. Wheelchair, and also she’s feeding tube fed…She does have seizures now, sometimes once a day, sometimes all day. She has a feeding tube, she goes to occupational therapy, speech therapy, as well as physical therapy.”
Johnson was found guilty on Jan. 28, 2022, for aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm..
Judge Christopher Sabella announced Johnson’s sentence during an in-person hearing. The sentence was 25 years in prison and five years on probation.
State guidance recommended a minimum of 6.5 years in a Florida State Prison. The maximum sentence for the crime was 30 years.
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