A South Carolina jury has sentenced a man to life in prison without parole for the brutal killing of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son, a crime that shocked the Colleton County community and left another child severely injured.
Kasiem Rashawn Stephens, 32, was convicted Thursday of homicide by child abuse and unlawful neglect of a child in connection with the 2017 death of young Ki’Zadyn Shuler. Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen handed down a life sentence on the homicide charge and an additional 10 years for neglect, court records show.
Prosecutors said Stephens used an electrical cord to savagely beat the child, inflicting blunt trauma to his head and neck that ultimately killed him. A forensic pathologist from the Medical University of South Carolina testified that the boy suffered extensive acute injuries across his body.
“A little boy’s life was cut short at the hands of someone who was supposed to take care of him,” prosecutor Tameaka A. Legette of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said. “Instead, this child was met with a type of violence that none of us should ever have to experience.”
Investigators discovered evidence of attempted cover-up at the Walterboro residence on Novits Cook Court, including a burnt electrical cord, a charred children’s mattress, and a leather belt found in a backyard burn pile.
The tragedy unfolded on August 17, 2017, when Ki’Zadyn was rushed to Colleton County Medical Center in cardiac arrest. Despite emergency efforts, he was pronounced dead.
His 6-year-old sister was also found with abrasions and bruising. Their mother, Francesca Michelle Shuler, 34, later pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful neglect of a child and testified against Stephens during trial.
Stephens and Shuler were arrested hours after the boy’s death.
Family members remembered Ki’Zadyn as a lively, affectionate child. “Every time we would come he would run up to the car and say ‘Hey! Hey!’” his aunt told WCSC-TV. His uncle added, “[He was] very much an outdoor boy. Very loving and playful. He was just innocent and happy.”
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