HAMPTON, Va. — The Hampton mother jailed for the murder of her 2-year-old son was sentenced to 55 years in prison Monday.
Julia Tomlin pleaded guilty in December to the 2019 killing of her son Noah.
Tomlin reported Noah missing on June 24, 2019, and on July 3 of that year, police found his body at the Hampton Steam Plant.
When police found his remains, they said they were in an "advanced state" of decomposition. The police officer who found his body had to leave the scene, it was so graphic.
After an autopsy, the medical examiner found that Noah had fractures to his skull that likely caused his death. Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Anton Bell said the evidence of child abuse was almost to the level of "torture."
The medical examiner determined Noah died because of blunt force trauma and battered child syndrome.
During the sentencing, Julia Tomlin’s daughter took the stand. She asked the judge to give her mother the maximum penalty.
She told the judge her mother has "never been fit to be a parent" and "my brother Noah received the worst from her.”
She told the judge she had nine siblings.
Tomlin’s attorney told the judge his client had a hard upbringing and she turned to drugs at a young age. He said the day Noah died, Tomlin said her memories are fuzzy, and she isn’t sure what happened because she was under the influence of heroin and alcohol.
Bell told 13News Now last week that he planned to ask the judge for the maximum sentence.
The second-degree murder charge alone carries 5 to 40 years. The judge had the option to tack on up to 15 additional years for the other charges of concealing a dead body and felony child neglect.
Tomlin has spent the past three years in jail.