On Monday, 37-year-old Virginia mother Julia Tomlin was sentenced to 55 years in prison for the 2019 murder of her 2-year-old son, Noah Tomlin, who may have been on the autism spectrum.
As per Law and Crime, prosecutors accused the mother of torturing Noah Tomlin to death before putting his body in an empty diaper box and trying to dispose of it at a trash incinerator site. On December 2021, she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, concealing of a dead body, and felony child neglect.
According to People News, the suspect was the mother of 9 other children, of whom she has now lost custody.
Noah Tomlin's body was heavily mutilated
According to authorities, Julia Tomlin reported her son missing to Virginia authorities on June 24, 2019, claiming that she had not seen Noah Tomlin since the night before.
Soon after, when Noah's mutilated body was recovered from a nearby trash can near the waste incineration area, police suspected foul play due to the brutal injuries the infant had sustained.
In a statement to the press, Hampton's Commonwealth attorney Anton Bell described the nature of the crime. He said:
"Imagine a baby with no arms, no limbs, and only a few strands of hair from his head."
The arrest documents further outlined the crime scene:
“(The body was in) an advanced state” of decomposition, but it was clear that the baby had suffered “horrific and severe (injuries)"
People News reported that after the discovery of the body, the mother alleged that Noah Tomlin must have been kidnapped. Reportedly, she later told authorities that he had died in an accident while she was using heroin, leading to her panicked attempt to hide the body.
After consulting the autopsies and arrest reports, however, prosecutors told jurors that Noah Tomlin had likely been subjected to torture before his death.
Bell said:
"Noah's skull had a hole in it that was found to be consistent with an instrument striking it. The medical examiner stated the injuries were consistent with the force of someone being dropped from a multiple story building."
Bell described the moment that Julia Tomlin reportedly confessed to the authorities. He said:
"Tomlin would later confess that later that night, which was the early morning of June the 23rd, she wrapped Noah's deceased body, put the body in a diaper box, triple-bagged the box with three trash bags, and gave it to [her friend] to dispose."
He added:
"Tomlin was adamant that [her friend] was unaware of the contents of the package."
At the hearing, Tomlin's 19-year-old daughter testified against her, recommending the maximum penalty.