RICHMOND, Va. -- Judge Catherine Hammond told a Richmond courtroom the evidence was "overwhelming" that Tori Jackson-Hope willfully neglected her nephew, Trey Hope, before handing down the maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars with no time suspended.
"The evidence of his injuries was excruciating... She definitely failed to provide medical treatment," Hammond said.
Jackson-Hope mouthed, "I am sorry. I love you," to her oldest daughter before being taken away.
She told the judge she loved Trey and she "did not physically harm him in any kinda way," but she accepted responsibility for the neglect.
"I tried to do everything possible," Jackson-Hope said.
Trey Hope has autism and cerebral palsy. He is non-verbal.
Law enforcement charged Jackson-Hope with two counts of abuse and neglect after Trey was dropped off at Chippenham Hospital on July 17, 2020, with a broken skull, broken pelvis and severe burns all over his body.
He had to be resuscitated twice.
Prosecutors said that Jackson-Hope abused and neglected Trey so severely that he ended up in the hospital with 13 fractures, burns all over his body, and had lost more than 30 pounds in six months.
Trey's mother, his legal guardian, had died in January of 2020, and he went to live down the street with his aunt and uncle.
The jury returned in February with a split verdict, finding Jackson Hope guilty of neglect, but not guilty of abuse.
"I'm happy we can go celebrate knowing he has justice now," Hope's cousin, JaWanda Hope said.
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