Man gets life for abusing, killing 2-year-old son

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his 2-year-old son and encasing his body in concrete.

A jury deliberated 33 minutes Thursday before finding 31-year-old Roger Anthony Williams guilty of homicide by child abuse. Williams’ lawyer asked for a mistrial before he was sentenced because of the short length of deliberations, but a judge refused.

Williams admitted putting his son into a barrel, filling it with concrete and taking it from Summerville to Orangeburg County. But he denied killing the boy, blaming his former girlfriend Grace Trotman for the child’s death. She pleaded guilty and testified for prosecutors. She’ll be sentenced later.

In closing statements, prosecutors reminded jurors of testimony that said Williams often hit his son because he would stand like a girl.