Mom, boyfriend sentenced in child death

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - A mother and her boyfriend have been sentenced to serve a total of 73 years in prison in connection with the death of 5-year-old child.

Harvey L. Bryant, Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Virginia Beach, said Che Ernest Hazell and Christy Ronsha Lamour were sentenced Tuesday on charges of second degree murder, child abuse and child endangerment.

Hazell was sentenced to 40 years with two years suspended leaving 38 to serve. Lamour was sentenced to 55 years in prison with 20 suspended, leaving 35 years to serve.

The two were found guilty May 1, 2012 after a four-day trial.

According to court documents, Lamour brought her 5-year-old son to Portsmouth Naval Hospital on April 5, 2011. The boy was not breathing upon arrival, and testimony says his body was cold and limp. An autopsy revealed the 5-year-old died was a perforated bowel caused by blunt-force trauma.

Virginia Beach detectives also learned that in the hours leading up to his death, the 5-year-old was vomiting and crying constantly, and neither Lamour nor Hazell sought treatment for him, according to court records.

The judge in the case recounted the injuries the child sustained, saying the child was "systematically beaten to death" and that the "terror [the] child suffered is immeasurable."