Man kept his girlfriend’s 3-year-old sibling in a locked closet, aware that the child was severely malnourished and in deteriorating health, then claimed ‘he did the best he could do although the boy was not his responsibility’; sentenced

Houston, TX – According to the court documents, the 26-year-old man, later identified as JayIin, learned his fate on Wednesday after judge sentenced him to six decades behind bars for his role in the death of 3-year-old child two years ago. Prosecutors released a statement, saying that the defendant initially faced from 5 to 99 years to life in prison on each charge and will have to serve at least 30 years before he is eligible for parole.

JayIin was sentenced after jurors convicted him of injury to a child with intent to cause serious bodily injury. During the investigation process, authorities said that when the child’s body, 3-year-old Klng, was found in May 2022, he reportedly weighed bellow 20 lbs and had skeIetaI appearance. 

According to the court documents, the 3-year-old child was found starved to death in a cIoset that was locked, L&C reported. The responding deputies discovered the severely malnourished body of the child locked in a closet with a padlock. Responding officers say that the scene was hard to describe. The defendant told jurors that he ‘did the best he could do although the child was not his responsibility’.

Prosecutors claim the defendant was aware that the child was malnourished and deteriorating health, and failed to seek medical attention and confined the child in a locked closet. The defendant, who is the boyfriend of the victim’s sister, was the third and final suspect arrested in connection to the death of the little boy. The boy’s mother, 43-year-old Tina, and his sister, 21-year-old Kristen, were also taken into custody. Kristen was sentenced to 30 years in prison and the case against the child’s mom is still ongoing.