A D.C. man who is is set to stay locked up but could walk free in less than a decade under a plea deal with prosecutors.
Antonio Turner, 29, is admitting guilt in multiple counts involving a 2-year-old boy who died, another young child who was injured and a woman who was beaten.
Turner pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the 2020 death of his girlfriend鈥檚 2-year-old son in D.C. A medical examiner found rib fractures and injuries to the child鈥檚 heart and brain, and the cause of death was ruled to be multiple blunt force injuries.
Prosecutors say Turner also pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree cruelty to children for injuries suffered by another one of his girlfriend’s children, a 3-year-old. That child鈥檚 injuries included fractured ribs and a lacerated liver.
Additionally, Turner pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge for dragging a woman from her car after a traffic crash, punching her repeatedly and causing her to fall and lose consciousness. Turner was arrested on Nov. 29 and has been in custody ever since.
Under his deal with prosecutors, Turner would be sentenced to between seven and 13 years in prison for his crimes.
鈥淭his does look like somebody who ought to have gotten a much stiffer sentence,鈥� said Stephen Saltzburg, a professor of law at George Washington University. 鈥淭he idea that a judge might sentence him to only seven years, that doesn鈥檛 make any sense to me.鈥�
鈥淭his is torturing a child to death,鈥� Saltzburg added. 鈥淲hen I look at the description of this child鈥檚 injuries, I wonder whether voluntary manslaughter is the right charge. This child had so many injuries that you had a pretty decent case that Mr. Turner actually intended to kill this kid.鈥�
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office for the District of Columbia said they typically do not comment on pending cases and have no comment on this case.
Still, Saltzburg said getting testimony about who caused the injuries in these types of cases can be difficult. 鈥淭he fly in the ointment always is, how are you going to prove that he did it all rather than the mother?鈥� he said. 鈥淕etting [Turner] into prison quickly is probably something they put a priority on.鈥�
The mother, Ta’Jeanna Eason, 32, has pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree cruelty to children. Prosecutors say she is to be sentenced to six years in prison with that time suspended on the condition that she have no future unsupervised contact with children, and that she participate in mental health and drug treatment.
A judge must still accept the guilty pleas of both Turner and Eason.
