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Crime Aug 08, 2022
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A judge Monday rejected a bid for resentencing by a woman convicted of second-degree murder for the death of her 23-month-old son, who lingered in a vegetative state for more than a month after being beaten by her live-in boyfriend.
In a 28-page written ruling, Superior Court Judge Daviann Mitchell found that Rosie Lee Wilson is “ineligible for re-sentencing” under a change in state law that affects the convictions and sentences of defendants in some murder cases.
“Petitioner failed to perform her parental duty to care for her minor child by not taking every reasonably necessary step to protect her minor child in spite of his horrific and life-threatening injuries,” the judge wrote in her ruling.
“Petitioner had the ability to protect Anthony, recognized the extent of his injuries and failed to protect him from her physically abusive boyfriend (Brandon) Williams, and intentionally delayed seeking medical attention for her child,” the judge’s ruling continued.
“The court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that petitioner had the legal duty to protect her minor child, Anthony and that the People have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that she is criminally culpable for second-degree murder as an aider and abettor for an assault causing death to Anthony as well as under an implied malice theory. The court further finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the petitioner was aware of Williams’ prior violently assaultive conduct against Anthony.”
Wilson, now 28, was convicted in May 2017 by a jury in Lancaster of second-degree murder and child abuse involving her son, who was on life support for about 45 days before dying. She is serving a state prison sentence of 15 years to life.
Wilson’s boyfriend was convicted of first-degree murder, torture and assault, and was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison.
The judge noted in her ruling that Wilson had left the boy and his sister with Williams so she could go to a karaoke bar a few weeks earlier and that she returned home to learn that her boyfriend had beaten and severely injured the boy and that she didn’t take the boy to a doctor or notify law enforcement because she did not want the Department of Children and Family Services to remove her children from the home.
Wilson again left the boy and his sister with her boyfriend so she could go out again for karaoke on Aug. 21, 2014, in a decision that “ultimately proved to be fatal for Anthony,” and waited a significant time to return home after receiving a call from her boyfriend indicating that the boy was unconscious, Mitchell wrote in her ruling.
The boy was taken to the hospital the following afternoon after Wilson “applied make-up and powder to Anthony’s body in an effort to cover up his numerous bruises,” the judge wrote, noting that the woman lied about his injuries and symptoms and tried to cover up Williams’ actions and her own inaction.
Two doctors testified that the boy would have had a good chance of surviving if he had been taken to a hospital right away, Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami said after the verdict.
In a March 2019 ruling, a state appeals court panel upheld Wilson’s murder conviction but left it up to the lower court to rule on the claim that she was convicted of murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine and could not now be convicted of murder because of changes in state law that became effective after her conviction and sentencing.
