NORFOLK, Va. — Catherine Seals, the woman who pleaded guilty to homicide and child neglect charges in the death of 4-year-old son Larkin Carr in Norfolk in 2019, was sentenced to 18 years in prison Thursday in Norfolk Circuit Court.
Seals received 10 years for child abuse and eight years for felony homicide, according to online court records obtained by 13News Now.
Seals had been charged with child neglect in January of 2019, and then indicted on felony homicide in May of that year for the child's death.
Larkin was found unconscious in his home in November of 2018 with no pulse and bruises scattered across his body. He was taken to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, where he was pronounced dead.
Seals' 14-year-old son was charged with second-degree murder and is set to be tried as an adult in the case.
Seals was charged after her son and Larkin's father, Hank Smith Jr.
Smith Jr. initially faced only child abuse charges but then had felony homicide charges added later.
Smith Jr. was found guilty of all charges in October of 2021 after prosecutors said he failed to get Larkin the help he needed after the teenager beat him.
An expert and doctor at CHKD testified during Smith Jr.'s trial and said she believes Larkin also suffered from nutritional and medical neglect.
A medical examiner's report showed that Larkin died from blunt force trauma to his abdomen and had more than 80 bruises on his body at the time of his death.