A Stockbridge man was sentenced to prison Friday after he pleaded guilty to the death of his 5-month-old son.
A Henry County judge sentenced Marquise Javon Simmons, 28, to 40 years with the first 25 to serve in prison, the district attorney’s office said in a news release Sunday.
Simmons was charged after his son Amir Simmons fell out of his bed and died in 2017, AJC.com previously reported.
Simmons was caring for the child at a home on Rock Quarry Road while the mother was at a job fair Sept. 21, Henry police spokesman Capt. Mike Ireland previously said.
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When the baby fell, Simmons sent a text message to the mother about 1 p.m. that the baby was unresponsive, Ireland said.
“The mother arrived at the residence and was given the unconscious child,” Ireland said.
Neither parent called 911 from the home, he said. A friend took the child and parents to Piedmont Henry Hospital.
Amir Simmons, who wasn't breathing, was then flown to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
The child reportedly had a severe brain injury, police said. An autopsy determined the child’s cause of death was blunt force trauma.
Simmons left the hospital when a security guard approached him, Ireland said. The investigation revealed that Simmons left because he had four warrants on charges of family violence against the mother of the child, Ireland said.
Simmons turned himself in the next day and was booked into the Henry County Jail for the family violence warrants.
Simmons was sentenced on charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, first degree cruelty to children, stalking and fleeing police, as well as multiple counts of battery and traffic charges.
Henry County Superior Court Judge Holly W. Veal also ordered Simmons not to have contact with Amir Simmons’ mother, Be’Lasha Shanae Wise. Charges are still pending against Wise, the district attorney said.
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