Moments after standing up in court and being forced to the ground by sheriff’s deputies, a man convicted of killing his girlfriend’s 13-month-old son was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years to life in state prison.
Lamar Ahmad Tatum — who was found guilty April 11 of second-degree murder and assault on a child causing the February 2015 death of Majesty Lyles – – exchanged obscenities with the victim’s father after getting out of his seat and being restrained by two deputies in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
Alvin Lyles Jr. had been told to address his comments to the judge instead of the defendant and was instructed to leave the courtroom before the hearing resumed.
“Words can’t even express how I feel … It’s been a long two years,” Lyles said, noting that his son couldn’t defend himself.
Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry called the case a “very sad and tragic matter.”
The toddler, who had been crying while Tatum cared for the boy and his 2- year-old brother, died of blunt force trauma to the head nearly 10 days after being thrown against a wall in a Huntington Park apartment, according to Deputy District Attorney Pallavi Dhawan.
Tatum testified in his own defense, telling jurors that he carried the crying 13-month-old boy to the bedroom and threw him toward the bed.
Tatum had an October 2011 conviction for robbery that added five years to his sentence.
— City News Service