Montgomery County Judge Risa Ferman told Kieff King what he and Lisa Smith did to 4-year-old Tahjir Smith is "the stuff horror movies are made of."
And the judge told Smith her actions made the last few months of her own son’s life a torture chamber.
She sentenced 27-year-old King and 20-year-old Smith each to life in prison along with an additional 15-to-30 years behind bars.
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Prosecutor Ed McCann said Smith’s own words show how terrified the boy was of his own mother.
"He spills his cereal and he’s so afraid, he’s running away and he’s stuttering about it when he’s confronted about it and he urinates on himself. That just speaks to the kind of fear he was in at this point." McCann said.
Smith’s attorney detailed the abuse she suffered when she was a child, saying she got pregnant with Tahjir when she was sexually assaulted when she was 13.
Ferman noted adults completely failed her and this is the collateral damage of child abuse, and many people "have Tahjir’s blood on their hands."
At trial, the medical examiner testified the injuries Tahjir suffered from being beaten by a flip flop by Smith and King were similar to injuries people suffer in building collapses. He also had scars on his back from being hit by a belt and previous rib fractures from being squeezed.