Virginia mother gets 20 years in starvation death of her son

HOPEWELL, Va. – The mother of a Virginia boy who died from severe starvation and neglect has been ordered to spend 20 years in prison.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch on Friday reported 38-year-old Amy FaJohn was sentenced to 40 years in prison, with half of that time suspended, on her second-degree murder conviction.

Thirteen-year-old Jalen Goldsborough was found dead last year. He had sores, sunken eyes and weighed 24 pounds (11 kilograms). A police detective testified FaJohn told him she started limiting her son’s food intake in December 2017.

Prosecutors say Goldsborough was disabled after his father physically abused him as an infant. Charles Byron Goldsborough II is serving time for shaking his son so violently it caused blindness and brain injuries.

FaJohn’s live-in boyfriend, Anthony Saunders, was sentenced to five years in prison.

___

Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.richmond.com