Darell Avant Sr.,

Man convicted of first-degree murder in death of son, 5

convicted of beating his 5-year-old son to death, should get life in prison and not the death penalty, a jury decides.

A man convicted of beating his 5-year-old son to death should be sentenced to life in prison, not the death penalty, an Orange County jury decided after less than an hour of deliberations Thursday.

Darell Avant Sr. did not show much emotion when the verdict was announced. The same jurors convicted him last week of first-degree murder in the death of his son, Darell Avant Jr. The kindergartner was killed Dec. 18, 2013, and Avant has been in the Orange County Jail since that night.

“It was a very difficult case, given the age of the child and the injuries. But I think when the jury said it was not heinous, atrocious and cruel, they knew he did not intentionally cause this horrible death that his son suffered,” defense attorney Roger Weeden said.

Neither Avant’s family nor the family of the child’s mother, Jessica Phillips, was in the courtroom for the verdict. Circuit Judge Jenifer Harris set the sentencing hearing for Monday at 9 a.m.

He will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Darell Jr. was sent home from Pershing Elementary School for misbehaving the morning of Dec. 18, 2013.

The child was rambunctious, but didn’t seem to be suffering from any injuries, a teacher from the school told jurors last week.

Avant was home alone for the rest of the afternoon with Darell Jr. and his other son, who was 1 at the time.

Later that evening, he called his neighbor and asked him to come over. The neighbor arrived about 7 p.m. and found Darell Jr. unconscious on the floor. He started doing CPR and told Avant to call 911.

Avant told deputies he was disciplining his son by making him do squats and push-ups. The boy told him he was getting hot, so Avant told him to go take a shower. He claimed that his son got dizzy and lost consciousness as he was getting dressed, according to video of his questioning.

Avant could not explain how or when his son suffered 208 bruises and 12 rib frac-

tures. A medical examiner ruled the cause of death was internal bleeding as a result of blunt force trauma. His phone records show he searched for “eyes roll in back of head” half an hour before his neighbor came over and told him to call 911.

Weeden told jurors Avant had suffered head injuries and, because of that, had a difficult time making decisions in stressful situations.

“They [the jury] recognized that even though these are horrific injuries, that mercy can be bestowed,” the attorney said.