A mom, who has been convicted of killing her 3-year-old son, was sentenced to 45 years in jail on Jan. 8.
Frances Lyles was found guilty, in November of 2017, of felony murder and first-degree cruelty to children after her son, Xavier Lyles, who was beaten to death in 2014.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Wright urged a sentence of life without possibility of release, since it was an “extraordinary case.”
According to Wright, Lyles would single out Xavier and beat him up. When a babysitter told Lyles that Xavier was sick, the mother said she would “F–k him up.” Additionally, Wright said that to avoid beatings, Xavier would take off his clothes to hide the fact that he had soiled himself.
“There was a pattern of neglect and abuse,” Wright said.
According to the prosecution, the child had more than 70 old and new injuries on his body when he died. On June 18, Lyles beat her son for upsetting her newborn child’s bouncer seat and beat him again a couple days later for running around their apartment in Southeast D.C. Xavier had multiple bruises and a lacerated liver. His kidney avulsed and he lost a third of his blood due to internal bleeding.
Instead of calling the police, she called her cousin to cover up the murder.
When first responders finally arrived on the scene, they discovered the child had been dead for an extended period of time.
“It’s heartbreaking to think of that little boy’s last hours, he was abandoned and abused,” Judge Zoe Bush said. “He deserved a better life than he got. But in death, he will have justice.”
Lyles said she originally blamed her boyfriend, Anthony Louis Belt, for the murder. According to news reports, Lyles family threatened the boyfriend with physical harm on social media.
Lyles initially told law enforcement that Belt had beaten Xavier. However, Lyles wouldn’t provide Belt’s contact information and, after weeks of following leads, it was discovered — through outgoing phone calls — that she was responsible for the murder. In phone conversations with her cousin, Lyles admitted she was going to “whoop” her child.
Defense Attorney Elliot Queen said that while the defendant doesn’t agree with the sentencing and still maintains her innocence, she has to live with and respect the jury’s decision.
Queen told the judge there was no excuse for the way the defendant talked to or threatened her children, but pointed out her troubled background and low IQ and asked Judge Bush to “take into the totality of the case.”
During the sentencing, Lyles said she loved her children and that she would never hurt them.
The sentencing was not only a consequence for Lyles’ crime, but it was also a way to set an example to other parents, according to Judge Bush.
“If you get caught, you cannot blame it on someone else,” she said.
Lyles was arrested on Sept. 16, 2014 and found guilty by a jury on Nov. 9, 2017. In addition to five years of supervised release following her sentencing, she will be required to attend an anger management program, grief counseling and drug treatment.
