RUSTBURG, Va. – The Rustburg woman who pleaded guilty to the death of a 3-year-old earlier this year was sentenced on Thursday.
Megan Paris was sentenced to 40 years with 20 years suspended for 2nd-degree murder in connection with the toddler’s death.
As we’ve reported previously, in Oct. 2020, deputies launched an investigation after learning that Paris, the child’s caregiver, had hurt the child.
In court Thursday, we heard from multiple witnesses including Paris herself, who said that the death of her then-boyfriend’s 3-year-old son, Ian Berger, was an accident.
She said the child slammed his head on the bathtub when she was changing his clothes.
Prosecutors said her account in court Thursday was the third version of events she has told people since the incident.
A doctor testified in the case that the boy died of head trauma, an injury she said was so severe that it did not come from a short fall.
Berger’s dad and other family members took to the stand to read victim impact statements.
“Since September 2020 there are no more good mornings, good afternoons, good days, or good nights for me. There are only days and bad days,” David Berger, Ian’s dad said.
The defense argued that Paris had lied in the past about Ian’s death due to past trauma she’d experienced.
Doctors testified in court Thursday that the toddler died of head trauma after being airlifted to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
Paris was initially charged with first-degree murder but it has since been amended to second-degree murder, and pleaded guilty back in February.