A 27-year-old Virginia woman faces second-degree murder and felony child abuse charges after police say she beat her son until he suffered fatal internal injuries.
Katrina Marie Sudberry is accused of using her hands, a belt and physical exercises to discipline her 5-year-old son, identified as J.H. Officers responded to an apartment on Walden Pond Court in Newport News on Thursday afternoon after receiving a report of an unresponsive child.
Medics took the boy to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead that evening. An autopsy the next day found multiple lacerations to his liver and kidney plus damage to his stomach, diaphragm and intestines, all caused by blunt force trauma.
Sudberry told detectives she had used a belt on the child as recently as two days earlier. She said she knew how the extensive bruising would look if she sought medical help sooner. A neighbor reported seeing Sudberry forcefully drag the boy the day before police arrived.
Sudberry remains in the Newport News Jail. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 9.