VIRGINIA BEACH - AVa. Beach jury recommended a 40-year sentence for man who killed his girlfriend's young son while babysitting.
Alvin Gatewood was convicted Thursday of 2nd degree murder and child abuse/neglect for the November 2011 death of 19-month-old Kimauri Williams, said Commonwealth's Attorney spokeswoman Macie Pridgen.
The child's mother, Shaniqua Jones, faces trial on the same charges in May.
Medical authorities said Kimauri died of blunt force trauma to his abdomen and head. When the little boy got to the hospital, his body was covered in fingernail cuts, bruises and bite marks, likely received over a longer-term period of abuse, culminating with a more recent blow so severe it ruptured his liver and caused him to bleed to death internally, they stated.
Gatewood's maximum sentence would be 50 years in prison, Pridgen stated.
