A mother from Florida will be serving a lengthy prison sentence for the horrific abuse of her 6-year-old son, which involved locking him in cages, suffocating him to the point of unconsciousness, denying him food, and physically assaulting him. These abuses ultimately led to his tragic drowning in a dark, locked bathroom without electricity while he was forced to bathe. On Monday, a judge in Polk County sentenced Alize Seymore to 20 years in a state prison for her involvement in the death of young Anthony Rouse.

In September 2023, Alize Seymore faced charges that included first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, tampering with a witness, child abuse, and contributing to a minor’s delinquency or dependency. However, she reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, opting to plead guilty to two counts of aggravated child abuse as jury selection for her trial was about to commence. Consequently, she received 20-year sentences on each count, to be served concurrently, meaning simultaneously.

Tre Seymore, Alize’s husband and Anthony’s stepfather, had earlier pled guilty to second-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child, child abuse, and contributing to a minor’s delinquency or dependency. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison on the condition that he testify against Alize Seymore.

As previously reported by Law&Crime, deputies with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at about 3:20 p.m. on April 22, 2023, responded to an emergency call at a home in Eagle Lake, Florida, regarding a report of a child drowning in a bathtub.

Once there, first responders transported Anthony to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, where he was placed on life support. He was monitored for two days and showed no brain activity before doctors pronounced him dead.

In an interview with investigators, Alize Seymore told police that she locked her son in the bathroom and told him to take a bath after he urinated on himself, according to a probable cause affidavit. She allegedly claimed she found the boy “lying face down in the water in the bathtub” after checking on him 20 minutes later, taking a break from her TikTok use and prying open the bathroom door with a fork.

Deputies found the bathroom had no electricity as the breakers had been cut, and there were no windows; the bathroom was “completely dark” while Anthony took a bath.

Authorities said they also learned that the defendants had sent incriminating texts in the days and weeks before Anthony’s death.

The couple, on March 31, exchanged messages about the victim getting caught stealing “a handful of noodles” and being put in the “cage,” escaping, then being put back in the cage.

On April 1, Alize Seymore allegedly wrote: “Bro imma end up killing this fat b—, my house getting is f—ing dirty cause him, walls in garage turning f—ing black gt marks and s— like bro.”

Later, she allegedly sent her husband a video of Anthony locked in the cage, with Alize saying, “He [can] stay in that f—ing s— and rottttt.”

In the ensuing days, Alize Seymore allegedly texted “I hate him,” referring to the victim, and claimed she was “too busy with the other kids I love and care bout [sic].”

Ultimately, she allegedly expressed a desire to put Anthony up for adoption the day before the bathtub drowning.

According to the affidavit, one of Anthony’s siblings told investigators he initially lied about the circumstances of Anthony’s drowning because his mom threatened him, explaining the tampering with a witness charge in the indictment.

“During the interview, [redacted] disclosed the victim got in trouble for stealing food and as a result, Tre [Seymore] took the victim in to the bathroom to go ‘swimming.’ [Redacted] advised ‘swimming’ means ‘drowning,’ and ‘drowning’ means ‘holding the victim’s head underwater,'” the affidavit said. “While verbalizing this, [redacted] also motioned with his hand how Tre held the victim’s head underwater. [Redacted] stated Tre kept telling him to go to his room but he did not listen and watched Tre drown the victim. As a result, [redacted] stated he was standing in the bathroom during the incident.”

Investigators said the defendants often talked about putting Anthony in a dog cage to punish him and encouraged the other children in the home to abuse him and lock him inside.

“Alize would direct [redacted] to lock the victim and other children in the bedroom. Alize also rewarded [redacted] and [redacted] with food/candy if they beat the victim up at her direction. Additionally, Tre would single out the victim and ‘take him swimming’ as a form of torture and malicious punishment,” the affidavit said. “The investigative findings above, coupled with the concerning observations of neglect noted at the incident location, show the on-going abuse and neglect perpetrated by Tre and Alize; ultimately, leading to the death of the victim.”