FLORENCE, Ala. — A woman was found guilty Thursday of beating her boyfriend’s 3-year-old son to death in 2020 in Florence, Alabama.
Yalrick Pride, 23, was charged with felony murder after she and her boyfriend, Blake Townsend, tried to make Kaiden Gardner’s death look like she died in a hot car, WAFF reported. However, an autopsy found that he died from blunt force trauma. It was learned that the child had been dead for around three hours before authorities were notified, The Associated Press reported.
Townsend is Kaiden Gardner’s father, according to the AP. He died in 2020 during the summer.
Townsend was charged with capital murder, according to WAFF. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault as part of a plea deal where he would be sentenced to life in prison and testify in Pride’s trial.
Townsend testified that he saw Pride hitting Kaiden Gardner with a belt, the AP reported. Pride did not testify.
The jury came back during the first day of deliberations with a guilty verdict against Pride, news outlets reported, according to the AP.