HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia couple has been sentenced to life in prison without parole in the death of the woman’s 3-year-old son.
Media outlets report a Cabell County Circuit Court jury found 24-year-old Mariya Ajena Jones and 33-year-old Aaron Brendon Miles guilty Thursday of second-degree murder and murder of a child by a parent. The jury recommended no parole for Jones and Miles, and a judge sentenced them later Thursday.
A medical examiner determined Jayden Jones had been physically abused. The boy’s body was found at his Huntington residence in July 2016.
Earlier this month Miles pleaded guilty to child neglect and Mariya Jones pleaded guilty to child abuse. Miles is the boy’s stepfather.