A tragic case has concluded with a Virginia couple being sentenced to prison for the horrific abuse and death of their 9-day-old daughter. Hilary Johnson II, aged 24, is facing 19 years in prison, while his partner, 22-year-old Z’ibreyea S. Parker, has been sentenced to 10 years. This follows the death of their infant daughter, I’ijayah Johnson, who suffered unimaginable cruelty and neglect.

The couple faced justice following guilty pleas: Johnson admitted to second-degree murder, and Parker acknowledged guilt for child abuse resulting in serious injury. On May 4, 2024, they brought their severely injured baby to the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters. Medical staff were appalled by the signs of abuse, which included burns on the baby’s feet, cuts on her head and face, and bruises on her back. Tragically, I’ijayah was pronounced dead shortly after their arrival.

An autopsy revealed the brutal truth: the baby had suffered blunt force trauma to her head and torso, and her feet bore “deep partial-thickness burns,” likely from being immersed in hot liquid. Despite Johnson’s claim that I’ijayah had accidentally fallen from a stroller during a jog two days prior, the injuries she sustained were inconsistent with that scenario. Prosecutors indicated that evidence pointed more heavily towards Johnson as being responsible, although the exact roles of each parent remain undetermined.

In their defense, both parents insisted they hadn’t harmed their daughter. They recounted treating her injuries with witch hazel, peroxide, and gauze after the alleged stroller incident. However, as her condition worsened and she stopped breathing, they chose to take her to the hospital using public transportation instead of calling emergency services, a decision that prosecutors highlighted in their case.

The parents’ shocking lack of urgency and care for their critically injured child, coupled with their dismissive attitude, as they reportedly laughed at the hospital, underscores the gravity of their actions. This heartbreaking case serves as a grim reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by the youngest and most defenseless members of society.

Both parents claimed they didn’t hurt their daughter. They told cops after I’ijayah fell out of the stroller, they treated her injuries with witch hazel, peroxide and gauze. But her appetite decreased and then they noticed she was no longer breathing. Rather than call 911, they took her to the hospital by riding public transportation, according to prosecutors.

“The parents struggled to provide a precise birthdate for their daughter and laughed while checking in,” prosecutors said.

Local CBS affiliate WTKR, citing court documents, reported Parker claimed the injuries “were not all that serious.”

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped the murder charge for Parker and the child abuse count for Johnson. At her sentencing, prosecutors asked for three years behind bars while her defense attorneys requested she be released after already having served roughly 16 months. But the judge sentenced her to 10 years, the maximum for child abuse. The judge sentenced Johnson to the maximum prison sentence allowed under the plea agreement.

“There is no victim more vulnerable than a newborn baby. I’ijayah came into the world in need of love and protection from her mother and father. What she got instead was suffering and death,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “This was a difficult case on the facts, and there were real risks in going to trial, since, while there was no doubt about the nature of I’ijayah’s injuries, each parent could have blamed the other for inflicting them. In both cases, we secured a conviction and left the sentencing to the wisdom of the judge. We will continue to work the difficult cases and to honor the memory of innocent victims like I’ijayah who cannot speak for themselves.”

As Law&Crime previously reported, investigators discovered the parents and child were homeless and had been living in a tent under a highway.

Johnson’s father, Hilary Johnson Sr., told WTKR he expressed concerns to the hospital about the fitness of his son and Parker to be able to take care of I’ijayah after she was born.

“I said I feared for the girl’s life,” he said. “What in the world else am I supposed to do? Now, I got to bury my granddaughter because nobody listened.”

In another interview with local NBC affiliate WAVY following the girl’s death, the elder Johnson said the new parents struggled with their mental health.

“They was bright kids that I don’t know what in the world snapped into them to live the way they were living,” he said. “I prayed to myself before [I’ijayah] came here and I said, ‘Lord, please let her maternal instincts kick in that she wants to protect that baby, that she don’t want to live the way she was living, that she wants more for her and her child.’”

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where the girl was born, told WTKR that it has polices to “ensure that suspicions of child abuse or neglect and other reportable concerns are investigated in accordance with the law.”