A 31-year-old man from South Carolina has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for helping his girlfriend hide the death of her 4-year-old daughter, who had special needs.
The child was found beaten to death and stuffed inside a dresser drawer about five years ago.
On Thursday, Judge Eugene C. Griffith Jr. sentenced the man, named Audrevious Jarrell Williams, for his involvement in the 2020 killing of the girl, India Heavenly Lacey Martin.
Originally, Williams was charged with murder and homicide by child abuse.
However, he made a deal with prosecutors: he pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse and agreed to testify against the child’s mother, Jackleen Mullen. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the more serious charges.
A jury later found Mullen guilty of homicide by child abuse and aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse, but not guilty of murder. Judge Griffith then sentenced her to 30 years for homicide by child abuse and 10 years for aiding and abetting, to be served at the same time. By law, she must serve at least 85% of that sentence.
During the hearing, Detective Robert Smith from the Rock Hill Police Department described India’s death as one of the most miserable any child could experience.
Prosecutors asked the judge to give Williams the maximum 20-year sentence, but Williams’ defense attorney argued that his client had taken responsibility for what happened. Williams received credit for 931 days he had already spent in jail.
In May 2020, police went to check on India at the home Williams and Mullen shared. Mullen falsely claimed her daughter was staying with a relative named Cindy in North Carolina.
Later, officers found India’s body hidden in a dresser drawer upstairs. During the trial, police body camera footage showed an officer asking Mullen, “Where’s that child? She’s dead, and we know it.” Mullen continued to insist her daughter was with “Cindy.”
Prosecutors also revealed that Mullen came to police headquarters to plead guilty in a separate forgery case while still lying about her daughter’s death. Mullen will not be eligible for parole until July 2047.