TEXARKANA — A Texarkana man has been convicted of battery and aggravated assault in the death of his girlfriend's 23-month-old son.
Damian Ford was sentenced to 62 years in prison Tuesday for the death 2012 of Christopher Peoples Jr. and for probation revocation in an unrelated case.
The Texarkana Gazette reported that Ford cursed and waved his arms after the verdict and was removed from the courtroom.
Authorities say the child had at least 35 scars from whippings and that he had blunt force trauma to his body.
Ford testified that he did not beat the child and blamed the boy's mother, Simone Franklin, for the injuries. Franklin testified that she was abused by Ford and had tried unsuccessfully to stop him from hurting her son.