Lafayette woman gets 53 years in prison for murdering 3-year-old son
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — A Lafayette woman has been sentenced to 53 years in prison for murdering her 3-year-old son, according to Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Patrick Harrington.
A Tippecanoe County jury needed only about 90 minutes of deliberations in May before issuing a guilty verdict against Crystal Lynn Cox for charges of murder, neglect of a dependent, aggravated battery, and battery of a child less than 14 years old.
The 31-year-old woman’s son, Zeus Cox, died on July 5.
Lafayette police responded just before 8:50 a.m. July 5 to a call of a child not breathing and found Zeus Cox dead on a bedroom floor.
Investigators say the child had bruises on multiple areas of his body.
An autopsy found the child suffered multiple blunt force traumatic injuries to the abdomen, and that the injuries were not the result of an accident.
Sentencing for Cox has not yet been scheduled.
Cox’s boyfriend, Jermaine Garnes, also faces a charge of murder. His trial is set to begin in October.
