A woman who
pleaded guilty last year to a child cruelty charge was sentenced Wednesday (March 14) to 20 years in prison.
Heather Simpson, 40, faced a maximum 40-year sentence. She was arrested in 2016, after New Orleans police said her then 5-year-old son was brought to Children's Hospital with horrific injuries that included burn and bite marks and several missing fingernails and teeth.
Simpson's son, now 8, is developmentally disabled and partially paralyzed from a severe brain injury, said Ken Daley, a spokesman for District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office.
Authorities said the boy's condition likely was worsened by a series of five seizures he suffered in a two-week period nearly three years ago.
Simpson and her former live-in boyfriend, Cristian DeGregory, only sought medical help after the last seizure on May 25, 2015, when the boy stopped breathing.
DeGregory also was convicted of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile last year.
Criminal District Judge Byron C. Williams sentenced DeGregory to 50 years in prison -- 10 years longer than the maximum -- after state prosecutors introduced evidence that showed he was a repeat felony offender, Daley said.
Cannizzaro did not offer a reduced plea agreement to either defendant in the case, Daley said.
Court documents show Simpson told police the boy was in good health, "other than previous injuries he sustained weeks prior," when she left him in DeGregory's care and went to work on May 25, 2015.
In a separate interview, DeGregory told detectives "though the injuries were severe, they were treating the 5-year-old victim's injuries at home."