LYNCHBURG (WSLS 10) - Anthony Sexton entered a plea agreement on Thursday in the case of the death of 5-month-old Gray'sen Foster.
Sexton was charged with felony murder, child abuse/neglect causing harm and child endangerment.
He waived his rights to jury trial, to give Foster's family closure and prevent them from dealing with a long trial, according to the commonwealth's attorney.
Sexton will serve 22 years and six months with 36 months on supervised probation.
He must pay burial expenses of $2,200 to Foster's family, three years from release.
The incident happened in March of this year, when police were called to the 800 block of McCausland Street. Detectives say when police arrived, CPR was administered to 5-month-old Gray'sen Foster.
The Commonwealth's Attorney said the infant died from blunt-force trauma to the head.
Commonwealth deputy Bethany Harrison said Sexton entered the agreement to avoid a long trial, and give Gray'sen's family closure.
According to Harrison, Taylor Foster, Gray'sen's mom, ran errands and left him with Anthony Sexton on the night of March 2.
While she was gone, Sexton texted Foster and said Gray'sen had fallen out of his car seat.
According to Harrison, she asked if her son was hurt and told Sexton to put him back in the car seat.
A few minutes later she got another text message from Sexton saying Gray'sen was choking and not breathing. That's when she told him to call 911.
Harrison says when Paramedics arrived, Gray'sen was not breathing and had no pulse. He also had a red ring around his face.
He was pronounced dead later that evening.
According to the commonwealth's attorney, doctors who conducted the autopsy on Gray'sen said he had brushing on the left side of his face and chest area, that showed signs he was hit by a hand or fist.
Harrison says Sexton was interviewed multiple times and his story changed each time.
"Our theory of the case is that he was abusing the child, trying to get him to be quiet so he can play video games. In the course of that abuse he ended up murdering the child," said Harrison.
Sexton is not the father of Gray'sen. Harrison said he was Foster's boyfriend at the time.