Crime & Safety

Hazelwood Man Sentenced to 32 Years for Toddler's Death

Marquicio Johnson will serve concurrent sentences after being found guilty of the beating death of his girlfriend's two-year-old great-niece.

found two-year-old Orionis Barron-Taylor on Dec. 16, 2009, in her pajamas on the kitchen floor of the apartment she'd just recently moved to so her great-aunt could care for her.

The apartment in the 200 block of Chapel Ridge Drive would be the last place she'd ever live.

Orionis was the victim of child abuse with a burned hand, lacerated liver, cracked skull and bruises across her body discovered on the day, just three days after her second birthday.

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Hazelwood police arrested Marquicio Johnson, 35, for the incident. Johnson, who lived with the toddler and her great-aunt in Hazelwood, was watching Orionis while her great-aunt was working an overnight shift as a nurse.

He was found guilty in April of second-degree murder while in the commission of another felony in connection with Orionis' death.

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On Thursday he was sentenced to 32 years in prison.

Judge Carolyn Whittington sentenced Johnson to 25 years on the murder charge, and added seven years for one of the counts of child abuse. A seven-year sentence for endangering the welfare of a child and 25-year sentence on the other child abuse charge will run concurrently.

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