The boy’s mother also is due to stand trial.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Ezekiel Ramirez was sentenced to 50 years in prison Tuesday in the death of 4-year-old Knox Longoria.
He plead guilty to first-degree murder, after the jury found that he had caused the boy’s death by hitting him either with his hand or a blunt object.
Ramirez will be eligible for parole after 25 years.
Judge Missy Medary did not hold back before giving Ramirez his sentence of 5 decades behind bars.
“You’re going to be in prison for a very long time and on the anniversaries of his death I want you to think of that little boy who will never grow old,” Medary said.
The judge said in her years on the bench, this case was one of the hardest she has had to preside over.
“A child is probably the most innocent victim we could ever have,” Medary said.
A few members of Longoria’s family were present including his father.
Three family members gave impact statements on how the young child’s death has affected them.
“Every day I am offended that you are able to breathe the air that he no longer does. Darkness dwells inside of you,” one family member said. “The screams you will scream in prison and no one comes for you, in those times, I hope you think of those boys and how no one came to save them.”
He was set to begin trial Monday for the boy’s 2021 murder, but took a last-minute plea deal to avoid a jury.
Police were called to Driscoll Children’s Hospital in June 2021, where Longoria was being treated for severe injuries. He later died from those injuries.
The boy’s mother, Bethany Bernal, is also facing charges for injury to a child by omission, however it is not yet known when her trial will be.
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