In a shocking case of cruelty, on March 5, 2022, Georgia mother Sophia Williamsknocked her 4-year-old son, Anthony Vice, unconscious, who later passed away. On Wednesday, December 10, Williams was given a lifetime of prison sentence without the possibility of parole along with an extra 10 years, as DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced in a news release.
According to PEOPLE, “The sentence comes roughly four months after Williams was convicted in August of one count of Malice Murder, two counts of Felony Murder, four counts of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree, and three counts of Aggravated Battery in connection with Anthony’s murder.”
The news release by the authorities further mentioned that on March 6, 2022, Anthony was found unresponsive and without a heartbeat on the living room floor of the apartment they lived in. The first responders also added that there was “new and old bruising over the child’s entire body.”
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After Anthony was transported to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, he was announced dead. Before Williams was handed out her sentence, she had told the authorities that Anthony was not potty trained. She also said that whenever her son did not use the toilet or listen to her, she would give him lessons “by striking him with her hand, a house slipper, a purse strap, and a charging cord.”
She also defended herself, saying that Anthony had “accidentally hit his head the week before, stating that she was not responsible for any head injuries.” However, according to the news release, A 13-year-old boy who was present with Williams and Anthony on March 5, 2022, said that the mother had “whooped” Anthony when he “appeared to be dizzy and fell to the floor, unresponsive.”
Despite seeing the child in such a condition, Williams did not act promptly. Instead, she moved Anthony to the bed and woke him up only for a brief period of time by throwing water at him. The child remained unresponsive for most part of the night with only making small movements. As the news release mentioned, Williams did not call for help even then and rather searched for terms like “remedy for concussion” and “coma” on her phone.
MOTHER SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR BEATING DEATH OF HER 4-YEAR-OLD SON
State v. Sophia Williams
Read full release: https://t.co/JQFExs52gx pic.twitter.com/7mo0MVgh56
— Sherry Boston (@SherryBostonDA) December 10, 2025
After Williams woke up at 5 a.m. on March 6, 2022, she found Anthony to have turned limp as he made “a low grunting sound” as the D.A’s release mentioned. She then felt that the child had stopped breathing and it was at 5:38 a.m that Williams called Anthony’s father to let him know that their son’s breathing had stopped.
She made a call to 911 at 6:26 a.m. and later admitted she hesitated because Anthony’s body was covered in bruises An autopsy revealed that Anthony died because of blunt force trauma to the head. Moreover, it was also determined that Anthony could have survived if Williams had made the call for help at the first instance of Anthony showing signs of a head injury.
