Florida – A Florida woman, 25-year-old AIize, appeared before a judge last week and received concurrent sentences of twenty years in a state correctional facility after pIeading guiIty to two counts of aggravated chiId abuse in connection with the death of her chiId, Antony, 6 .
She had originally faced far more serious charges—including first‑degree murder, aggravated mansIaughter of a child, tampering with a witness, chiId abuse, and causing a minor to become delinquent or dependent—but those counts were dropped in exchange for her plea agreement. The woman’s spouse, Trey , pleaded guilty to second‑degree murder and aggravated mansIaughter as part of a separate deal and was sentenced to thirty years in prison, agreeing to testify against her in court.
Investigators began their work after the fatal incident in April 2023, when emergency crews were called to the family’s home in Florida. Deputies found the victim unresponsive face‑down in a bathtub. Initially, both the mother and her partner told officers they had sent the child to take a bath as punishment after he soiIed himself and did not check on him for at least 20 minutes, during which the mother said she was watching videos on her phone. Her spouse broke open the locked bathroom door and found the boy submerged in water, then called 911.
Florida authorities secured a warrant and examined the home, they encountered shocking conditions. The bathroom and the bedrooms lacked electricity; the bathroom had no windows and was shrouded in darkness. The children’s bedroom doors were locked from the outside, and investigators observed clothing soiIed with ur-ne and f-ces along with human waste smeared on closet walls. A dog cage was found inside the garage which authorities say was used to punish the victim by confining him for extended periods. Medical records and the autopsy revealed scars, open wounds, and signs of long‑term physical abuse .
Detectives also uncovered disturbing communications on the couple’s phones. Text messages showed the parents openly discussed abusing the child, locking him in a cage for petty infractions, and on one occasion the mother wrote she wanted to put him up for adoption. The investigators also found photos and videos corroborating the ongoing mistreatment.
Interviews with the victim’s siblings shed further light. A 10‑year‑old child told police that siblings were rewarded with candy or food for beating the victim and helping lock him in the cage. The sibling said he witnessed the stepfather hold the victim’s head underwater during a so‑called “swimming” punishment—“swimming” being used euphemistically for drowning. That same sibling eventually confessed that he had initially lied to police because the mother threatened to choke him if he revealed the truth.
During an interview with investigators, the child explained that his sibling had gotten in trouble for taking food without permission. As punishment, the mother’s spouse brought the child into the bathroom and told him it was time to go “swimming” which meant holding the victim’s head underwater. While describing the incident, the sibling demonstrated how the defendant held the child’s head down. The child also said that even though the defendant kept ordering him to go back to his room, he refused and remained in the bathroom, watching as the man drowned his younger brother.
The probable cause affidavit describes that the mother told Florida authorities she sent the child into the bathroom to bathe after he ur-nated on himself, then left him alone for about 20 minutes before returning to find him unresponsive. She claimed she pried open the locked door with a fork. At that point the child was face‑down in the tub. She also said she couldn’t remember the incident clearly due to anxiety .