William Thomas Davis III, the man accused of starving his 2-year-old son to death in 2010, was found guilty Thursday afternoon of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of the lesser included offence of reckless conduct.
Davis was sentenced for 10 years with credit for time already served. He's already been in jail for about two years.
The trial began on Monday. Davis waived his right to a jury trial, so Superior Court Judge Katherine Lumsden heard the case and delivered the verdict.
Dan Bibler, Houston County's Assistant District Attorney, told 13WMAZ his office is satisfied that Davis is being held accountable for the death of his son.
"It's a win given the circumstances," said Ryan English, a senior law clerk for the Public County Defender's office. "It's obviously not the best possible verdict that we could have received. It's tragic in the loss of D'Shawn, but this verdict today prevented a second tragedy."
English said Davis hadn't seen his 2-year-old son for about three weeks because he had been working longer hours. English said Davis took those hours because the family had been struggling.
English said the defense's medical expert, Dr. Michael Caplan testified in court Thursday. In his testimony Caplan said D'Shawn Davis could have been neglected for a minimum of about 14 days, but it could have taken place over a longer period of time.
In September 2010, the sheriff's department said 2-year-old, D'Shawn Davis had been isolated and neglected for nearly a year inside his home at 104 Tiffany Place.
Medics said the boy weighed 12 pounds 6 ounces.
Earlier this month, Sade Shamon King, the boy's mother and Davis's girlfriend, got a life sentence with the possibility of parole.