Harold Lee Williams, 18, of Lucy Garrett Rd. was sentenced to serve between 19 and 23 months in prision in connection with the death of William K’Mareion Jones. Williams, who was 16 at the time of the child’s death, was initially charged with first degree murder in the case.

Williams entered an Alford plea of guilty in the case. According to law, an Alford plea is a form of a guilty plea, wherein a defendant does not admit an offense and asserts innocence, but admits that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty.

The maximum punishment that could have been levied against Williams in the case for involuntary manslaughter was 59 months.

“The state felt like this was a plea that reflected justice,” District Attorney Joel Brewer said Friday. “Certainly this was a tragedy, and this is what can occur when you have a 16-year-old becoming a father.

“I think the court did the appropriate thing with an active sentence,” Brewer added later.

Defense attorney Wallace Bradsher agreed that the death of the infant was a tragedy and said Friday that he also concurred that the sentence “was a just result for what happened.”

Bradsher said that Williams “knew he would have to pull some time and expected that. He never expected anything else. All along he grieved and was upset about what happened.

“He lost his son through this,” Bradsher continued “I agree this is what can happen when you have two 16-year-olds trying to raise a child. This was definitely a tragedy all the way around, and now the healing can begin.”

According to an autopsy report from the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office in Chapel Hill, the infant died from blunt trauma to the head. Among the injury findings in the report from Dr. Cynthia Gardner’s autopsy of the child, which was performed on Oct. 5, 2006, were: multiple skull fractures, massive retinal hemorrhages, cerebral edema and diffuse alveolar damage of the lungs.

“I want to commend the Person County Department of Social Services for being on top of this situation,” Brewer said. “They did an excellent job in the initial stages of making the proper people aware of wrongdoing.”

Information from the autopsy report, which is on file at the Person County Courthouse, falling off a bed would not have caused the injuries sustained by the infant. Court records indicate that Williams told investigators following the death of his son, that the infant rolled off a bed and fell onto a vent on the floor, causing the fatal injuries. The autopsy report said the infant was admitted to UNC Hospitals suffering from bleeding from the brain, a skull fracture and a ruptured spleen.

“The death was ruled a murder at the autopsy,” Person County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Morris, the lead investigator in the case, said Thursday. “It was definitely an abuse case that resulted in murder.”

Williams was reportedly caring for the infant when the fatal injuries occurred.

“The child had trauma to both sides of his head at once,” Morris said. “The autopsy report does not add up to his story. That would not have resulted in the injuries the child had to the head.”

Former Person County Sheriff Dennis Oakley said at the time of Williams’ arrest that the incident “was definitely abuse.”

Oakley observed at the time, “It was definitely a homicide. … This was not an accident. … As soon as that baby died, this case became a homicide.”

At the time of the child’s death, Williams, according to court records, was on probation for an Aug. 7, 2006 charge of disorderly conduct. He was placed on probation for 18 months on Aug. 22, 2006 for that charge.

While out of jail on bond, awaiting trial in connection with the death of the infant, Williams and several others were implicated in a host of break-ins in the Timberlake area.

In those cases, Williams was charged with seven felony counts each of breaking and entering and conspiracy, five felony counts of larceny, two felony counts of attempted breaking and entering and one misdemeanor count of attempted larceny.

Brewer said Friday that those cases had been resolved. Attorney Ben Holloman Jr., who also represented Williams, confirmed that the cases “have been resolved,” but added that the resolution had “not been handled in court.

“The plea transcript has been signed by everyone,” Holloman said. Neither Brewer nor Holloman would disclose the details of the plea transcripts related to the break-ins.

Before his arrest on the break-in charges last fall, Williams had been released from jail in May of last year on a $75,000 secured bond. Judge Leon Stanback set bond for Williams in connection with the murder charge during court proceedings in Caswell County last April.