NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A mother was charged with murder in the death of her 5-year-old son, who medical examiners determined died from blunt force trauma, according to court documents obtained by News 3 on Monday.
27-year-old Katrina Marie Sudberry was charged with second-degree murder and felony child abuse, according to Newport News police.
On Thursday around 2:18 p.m., crews responded to a house in Walden Pond Court for an alert indicating a medical crisis for a 5-year-old boy. At the scene, officials found Sudberry screaming and crying in a bedroom while her son was found lying on the floor with bruises all over his body and face, according to the documents.
Watch previous coverage: Mother charged after 5-year-old dies from blunt force injuries, police say
On Thursday, Sudberry said her son was low energy and had vomited that morning, the documents say. She later found him unresponsive on his bedroom floor. Sudberry would then call her mother before contacting 911.
Sudberry admitted during an interview that she had disciplined her son through physical punishments, which included the use of her hands, a belt, and exercises such as push-ups and wall squats, according to the documents. Sudberry also said she used a belt to discipline her son two days earlier.
The boy was pronounced dead after he was airlifted to Children's Hospital of the Kings' Daughters, the documents state. Preliminary findings from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner's autopsy suggest the boy died from blunt force trauma. This was determined after various lacerations to his organs and abrasions on his face were discovered by examiners.
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