EDGEFIELD, S.C. — A South Carolina mother has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for suffocating and killing her infant son.
Vernita Jones, 27, was given the punishment this week in court in Edgefield County. She has previously entered a guilty plea.
Prosecutor said back on November 28, 2018, the Johnston Police Department got a call to check on the well-being of the baby, 6-month-old Anthony Frost. They said at first, she wasn't up front with police about what had happened and denied hurting the child.
Eventually, however, officers say she admitted she suffocated the child then placed his body in a dumpster. After a search that included over 50 officers, they found child's remains in a landfill in Greenville County.
Jones claimed she killed the child after using alcohol and ecstasy.
Prosecutors said she had been sending text messages to the child's father in Florida, and the text messages indicated a pattern of abuse toward the child. During the hearing, investigators determined she appeared angry her son's father would not return her phone calls.
Excerpts from text messages obtained during the investigation include the following statements made by Jones to the child’s father:
“That’s why I’m abusing ur baby everyday”
“Ima throw ur piece of (expletive) baby on the porch and leave”
“Answer the phone before I kill him”
"The callous nature of this crime shocks the conscience of even the most veteran law enforcement and criminal justice professionals," said 11th Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard, whose office prosecuted the case. ' Every member of law enforcement who took part in the search for Anthony and the recovery of his body at the Greenville County landfill was ultimately impacted."
