A South Carolina courtroom reached a final resolution last week as Jacob Ray Wescott was sentenced to 33 years in prison for the death of a ten-month-old boy. The sentence, handed down by the Honorable Milton G. Kimpson on February 9, follows a jury’s decision to convict Wescott of homicide by child abuse.
The case originated on March 9, 2020. Local emergency services, including the Kershaw County Fire Department and the Sheriff’s Office, rushed to the Wescott residence after receiving a report that an infant had stopped breathing.
Investigations revealed that Wescott was the primary individual babysitting the child at the time of the incident.
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Medical intervention began at the Kershaw Health Emergency Room before the infant was moved to Prisma Health Children’s Hospital for specialized care.
Medical staff there discovered a grim reality: the baby had suffered extensive head and body trauma, including multiple bruises and a brain bleed. Despite the efforts of doctors, the ten-month-old succumbed to those injuries and was removed from life support two days later.
The subsequent investigation involved a partnership between local detectives and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s (SLED) Child Fatality Unit. Expert testimony from pathologists played a crucial role in the trial, as they determined the child’s injuries were consistent with abusive head trauma—a condition often referred to in medical circles as shaken baby syndrome.
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The prosecution team from the Fifth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, led by Deputy Solicitors Curtis Pauling and Anna Browder, along with Assistant Solicitor Michael Bradbury, successfully argued that the injuries were the result of non-accidental harm.
Following the verdict, Wescott was immediately transferred to the South Carolina Department of Corrections to begin his three-decade sentence.
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