ATLANTA — A Georgia mother has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to the death of her 4-year-old son.
Keara Cotton, 31, was sentenced on Wednesday, the same day that would have been her son’s ninth birthday.
Cotton was arrested in 2022 after police found the remains of her son, Jayceion Mathis, wrapped in a plastic shopping bag and a shower curtain behind a shopping center in Cordele, WGXA reports.
Family members had reported to police that they hadn’t seen Jayceion in months, and the Georgia Department of Family and Children’s Services began investigating in January 2022.
The agency, along with police, made several attempts to contact Cotton but couldn’t.
That same day, Cotton reportedly “disappeared” and told her mother that she would bring Jayceion to visit her the next day.
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Investigators eventually found Cotton after she fled to Cordele, Americus, and Columbus.
Days later, police found the boy’s body behind a shopping center in Cordele.
The medical examiner determined the boy had died in November 2021.
Cotton told police that she woke up to her son not breathing, and instead of calling police, she wrapped up his body and kept it in her house in Dooly County.
The district attorney’s office said there were “varying accounts” on how the boy died.
The medical examiner’s office said it was unable to determine an exact cause of death because of how decomposed Jayceion’s body was when he was found.
Cotton was ultimately charged with murder, concealing the death of another, and second-degree cruelty.
Even before Jayceion’s death, there was reported abuse in the household.
“Two months before her son was found dead, a report accused Cotton of domestic violence, claiming that the 4-year-old boy and his 8-year-old sister were still not being properly fed or bathed,” WGXA reported.
In a statement to WALB-TV, District Attorney Brad Rigby said, “I can think of no better justice for Jayceion than the conviction of his murderer on his birthday, February 4, 2026. The District Attorney’s Office is thankful to speak for the children who have no voice and preserve justice for them.”
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