Lancaster woman ‘snapped’ beating child to death. Now she’s headed to prison.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the other charges the defendant pleaded guilty to were felony unlawful conduct toward a child.
A Lancaster woman who pleaded guilty in the beating death of a child and unlawful conduct toward other children in her care has been sentenced to 60 years in a South Carolina prison.
Ramesha Monet Brantley, 24, was sentenced Thursday by Circuit Court Judge Brian Gibbons to 35 years for homicide by child abuse in the death of 15-month-old De’Yontae Monterio Miller Jr., according to prosecutors and court records.
Brantley also was sentenced to 10 years each for two counts of felony unlawful conduct toward a child, five years for unlawful conduct toward a child, and five years for possession of drugs with intent to distribute, said Melissa McGinnis, 6th Circuit assistant solicitor.
With the exception of the five years for the drug charge, the sentences are to run consecutive, according to court records.
The child who died was found by police in November 2018 at the family’s 14th Street home in Lancaster, prosecutors McGinnis and Luck Campbell said in court. The toddler had been beaten all over his body, prosecutors said.
Brantley was the girlfriend of the deceased child’s father and caregiver for the children in the home, McGinnis said.
Filthy house, no water, rat poison
Brantley also pleaded guilty to three counts of felony neglect for the condition of the home where she lived with the children, McGinnis said. The home had no running water, had opened containers of rat poison near the children, and was filthy, McGinnis said. Another child had injuries, McGinnis said.
Police found illegal drugs in the home when officers investigated after the child was killed in 2018, McGinnis said.
She pleaded guilty but didn’t admit crimes
Brantley pleaded guilty earlier this month to the charges under an Alford plea, when a defendant does not admit guilt but accepts the penalty of a guilty plea.
Brantley confessed to police that she “snapped” and beat the child who died, prosecutors said in court when Brantley pleaded guilty earlier this month.
Brantley’s lawyer, 6th Circuit Deputy Public Defender William Frick, said after court Thursday that several members of Brantley’s family testified Thursday that physical violence was not in Brantley’s character.
“Everyone in her family was incredulous that she would harm a child,” Frick said after court.
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 8:49 AM.
