A Georgia mother found guilty of killing her 4-year-old son and attempting to flee from law enforcement has received her sentence.

Keara Cotton, aged 31, admitted to charges of second-degree murder and hiding a death, confessing to the tragic end of her son, Jayceion Mathis. Crisp County District Attorney Brad Rigby announced that, on what would have been Jayceion’s 9th birthday, Cotton was sentenced to a 25-year prison term.

According to previous reports from Law&Crime, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) began looking into Cotton after her relatives informed local authorities that they hadn’t seen Jayceion in months. Concerned family members filed a report with the Vienna Police Department on January 20, 2022. Attempts to reach Cotton were unsuccessful, prompting the police to enlist the help of the GBI.

The GBI revealed Cotton’s arrest on January 24, 2022. The case took a heartbreaking twist the following day, when the agency announced that a child’s remains had been discovered in Cordele, Georgia. These remains, found wrapped in a shopping bag and shower curtain near a shopping center, were confirmed to be Jayceion, according to Rigby.

WGXA, a local Fox and ABC affiliate, reported that upon Cotton’s arrest, she confessed that Jayceion didn’t wake up one morning in November 2021. Rather than seeking medical help, she concealed his body in her home. In January 2022, Cotton contacted her family, claiming she would visit them with Jayceion, but she never appeared.

When Cotton failed to meet her family, they alerted the authorities. Investigations revealed that Cotton had moved between three locations in Georgia in an effort to elude capture by law enforcement.

Rigby said the medical examiner was unable to determine Jayceion’s exact cause of death due to the condition of his body.

WGXA reported that Cotton was the subject of an investigation by the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services in connection with Jayceion and his older sister. Two months before the little boy was found dead, Cotton faced allegations that she was not feeding or bathing her children. Similar reports were filed and resolved in the years leading up to Jayceion’s death.

Cotton was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder and concealing a death.