WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A North Carolina man was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison after killing his son in Winston-Salem in 2019, according to the NC district attorney.
Christion Vaughn Jones, 21, pleads guilty to the death and physical abuse of his son Christion Jr. Thursday.
Jones was charged with the following:
- Second-degree murder
- Intentional child abuse
- Inflicting serious bodily injury
The Forsyth County Superior Court sentenced Jones to a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 25 years.
On July 4, 2019, officers were called to an apartment on Franciscan Drive due to Christion Jones Jr. not breathing. When officers got there, the family was performing CPR on the little boy. EMS transported Jones Jr. to Brenner Children's Hospital, but he did not survive.
An autopsy report showed that blunt force injuries to the abdomen and chest were the cause of death.
The court said Jones was fixing a bottle for his son after his mother yelled at him to care for this son. Jones said he sat his son upright in a chair before he slumped over and became unresponsive. That's when Jones and his mom attempted to Christion Jr.
Jones could not provide an explanation for his son's healing rib fractures.
The forensic pathologist Dr. Lantz believes the internal injuries were so significant he would have died in minutes. The injuries would have caused the abdomen and chest to fill with air so quickly that the victim would have been unable to cry out after the injuries had been inflicted.
