A Columbus woman was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years to life in prison after she was convicted of killing her boyfriend's 4-year-old son.
On Sept. 12, a Franklin County jury found Michelle Hilyard, 52, guilty of aggravated murder and other charges in the 2021 death of Bryson Brown.
Columbus police responded to the 1000 block of Geers Avenue in the Driving Park neighborhood just after 5 a.m. on May 26, 2021, on a report of an unresponsive child.
The Franklin County Prosecutor's Office said police reported that Hilyard hit the child several times with a board causing him to fall down the stairs. His father discovered him unresponsive in bed several hours later inside the home.
The boy's death was determined to be the result of multiple blunt force trauma injuries.
The prosecutor's office said Hilyard is a mother of 10, and had served prison time after she was convicted in 2004 of sexually abusing two of her children.
All of Hilyard's children have been removed from her custody.
