A 10-year-old sibling told police that they were ‘rewarded’ with candy for beating up the victim.
A Florida woman pleaded guilty Monday to lesser charges, just moments before her murder trial began.
As reported by Court-TV, Alize Seymore had been charged with several serious offenses, including murder, manslaughter of a child, tampering with a witness, child abuse, and contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a minor.
On Monday, just before the jury selection in Bartow, Seymore entered a guilty plea to two counts of aggravated child abuse. Consequently, a judge sentenced her to 20 years in prison for each of those counts.
Previously reported by CrimeOnline, Seymore’s 6-year-old son, Anthony Rouse, was found drowned face down in the bathtub at his mother and stepfather’s Winter Haven residence in April 2023. Authorities stated that prior to his death, Anthony was confined in a locked dog cage in a garage for hours and was deprived of food.
Seymore initially claimed that Anthony took his own life, but investigators said he had signs of long-term physical abuse,
Polk County police said Rouse and other children in the home were also kept in a locked bedroom with no electricity. Police found the room littered with clothing that was covered in feces and urine.
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A 10-year-old sibling told police that they were “rewarded” with candy for beating up Rouse and locking him in a dog cage. The child also said that she witnessed Tre Seymore force Anthony’ss head underwater in the bathtub on the day he died.
Rouse’s biological father told WTSP that his son was in the state’s custody for the first two years of his life because Seymore was being investigated by the Department of Children and Families.
The father said he got sole custody once he left Seymore, but when Rouse turned 5, he lost custody due to a domestic violence incident involving an ex-girlfriend.
“They felt the need to take him from someone he knew his whole life and just throw him directly to someone he’d only seen, you know, a handful of times,” he said.
Prior to the child’s death, Seymore sent Tre a text message, claiming, “I want to put him up for adoption.”
Tre, who agreed to testify during Seymore’s trial, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, chid abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and causing a minor to become delinquent or dependent.
A judge sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
[Feature Photo: Handout]
