A DeKalb County woman will spend the rest of her life in jail for killing her 4-year-old son because he wouldn't use the toilet.

According to prosecutors, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department responded to a report of a child who was not breathing at an apartment on March 6, 2022.

Arriving at the apartment on Tregoney Drive, the officers found 4-year-old Anthony Vice lying on the floor of the living room. While rendering aid, medics noticed that there was "new and old bruising over the child's entire body," officials said. The boy was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, where he was pronounced dead.  

Sophia Williams told officers that her son was not potty trained and that she beat him with her hand, a house slipper, her purse strap, and a charging cord when he urinated or defecated outside of the toilet or did not listen to her. 

The 41-year-old mother claimed that Vice had hit his head the week before; however, a teenager who was in the home said that Williams "whooped" Anthony the day before his death, saying that the 4-year-old appeared to be dizzy and fell to the floor. After his collapse, officials say Williams placed Vice on her bed and threw water on him, which revived him for a short time before he became unresponsive again.

"The defendant searched on her phone for phrases such as, 'remedy for concussion,' and 'Coma – symptoms and causes,'" DeKalb County Attorney Sherry Boston said in a news release.

The day that Vice was pronounced dead, Williams woke up to find her son limp and not breathing. Nearly one and a half hours after she woke up, she called 911.

Williams told officers she didn't want to call for help because of her son's bruises. An autopsy revealed that the boy likely would have survived his head injury if she had sought medical care the day before, officials said.

In August, a jury found Williams guilty of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, four counts of first-degree cruelty to children, and three counts of aggravated battery.

On Tuesday, a DeKalb County Superior Court judge sentenced Williams to life without the possibility of parole, plus 10 years.