A Davenport mother has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2024 murder and beating of her adopted 4-year-old son.
Patricia Boyer Saintizaire, 38, was found guilty of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated child abuse, child abuse and tampering with a witness by a jury on July 7.
Saintizaire was sentenced on Aug. 14 to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, with an additional 35 years to serve for aggravated child abuse. She owes more than $1,000 in court fines and fees for the charges and use of a public defender.
As of Aug. 14, she had served 829 days in jail. Under state law, Saintizaire has 30 days to appeal.
In May 2024, Saintizaire was arrested by Polk County deputies and charged with beating her 4-year-old son, Bryan, to death.
"We don't believe we know all that this child suffered," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at the time. "We have another video clip where he's face down on the floor and she's beating him on the back, and he's not even resisting it. It's like it's a normal occurrence."
Saintizaire went through a three-year process to adopt Bryan, taking custody of him in 2023.
On May 1, 2024, Saintizaire picked up her son from the bus stop about 5:10 p.m. In an interview with detectives, she said the boy had complained of "flu-like" symptoms for over a week, a police affidavit said.
About 8 p.m., Saintizaire and her adopted 16-year-old son found Bryan in his room and woke him up to eat dinner. During dinner, Bryan began to "visibly shake," then vomited three times and was visibly lethargic, according to the affidavit.
As the 16-year-old carried Bryan to the car, he began to shake violently again and fell, landing on his back.
Saintizaire brought Bryan to AdventHealth Heart of Florida Hospital in Haines City, where medical staff began life-saving care. The boy was airlifted to Orlando Health, where he died.
PCSO began its investigation after Orlando Health reported a young boy dying under suspicious circumstances on May 2, 2024, according to Judd. A medical examination at the hospital revealed an abdominal bleed that emergency surgery couldn't fix.
An autopsy performed by the District 9 Medical Examiner's Office found several layers of injuries, indicating severe beatings or abuse, including a deep laceration to the child's liver, the report said. The cause of death was ruled homicide by assault, or blunt-force trauma.
In a search of Santizaire's Davenport home, Polk deputies found a cell phone with video of her hitting Bryan with an unknown object, and another of her tying the boy's hands behind his back and throwing him into a pool.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Davenport mother sentenced to life in prison for adopted son's murder