2-Year-Old Boy Left in Vegetative State After Being Battered by Mom’s Boyfriend

2-Year-Old Boy Left in Vegetative State After Being Battered by Mom’s Boyfriend
Police car. (Nick Starichenko/Shutterstock)
Janita Kan
3/23/2019
Updated:
3/23/2019

A 2-year-old boy from Texas was beaten up so severely by his mother’s partner that he’s been left in a vegetative state where he can feel nothing but pain, said the family.

Thomas Sullivan was rushed to the intensive care unit of the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston in September 2018 for his injuries resulting from the abuse. The toddler suffered from severe head trauma, a lacerated liver, multiple fractures, and burns, reported Daily Mail. Doctors say the child will endure permanent mental and physical disabilities due to the abuse.

Thomas’s aunt, Sarah Sullivan, told the Courier that her nephew is only “only responsive to pain.”

“[Thomas] breathes on his own, and then he stops. He’s not doing well. He’s going to live, but they said we need to prepare for him to be in this state for the rest of his life,” she told the news website.

Thomas’s 3-year-old sister, Amery, also suffered similar abuse and sustained multiple injuries to her stomach as well as fractures to her pelvis and ribs. Sullivan told Metro that the 3-year-old had been kicked in the stomach and had to undergo kidney surgery to repair her organs.

Police arrested Adam Thomas, the boyfriend of the children’s mother, last autumn. They also discovered that the 28-year-old had a prior history of abusing and burning other young children who were similar in age to Amery and Thomas, reported the news website.

Investigators said Adam tried to claim the siblings’ injuries were sustained through “a series of accidents, such as falling down the stairs, falling off a toy wagon or playing too hard on a slip-and-slide at a birthday party.” They believe the abuse had occurred over several weeks.

In February this year, Adam was handed down two life sentences for child abuse. Police said he also conspired with the children’s mother, Denis Rae Watson, to lie to police about the abuse and even wrote a script detailing the types of explanations for the children’s injuries.

The 26-year-old mother eventually cooperated with the police, testified against her boyfriend, and admitted to authorities about failing to seek care for the siblings. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison on March 7, reported the news website.

In a heartfelt Facebook post, Sullivan said Thomas is still in the hospital with a 24/7 nurse, while the family has hired a lawyer to fight Child Protective Services for Amery’s custody.

Sullivan has set up a GoFundMe account to help cover Thomas and Amery’s medical costs.