BALTIMORE — Brandon Wheatley, a man accused in the death of 6-year-old Brian Graham, has learned his fate.
An end to a tragic story in Northwest Baltimore.
Baltimore Police responded to a home in the 6300 block of Greenspring Avenue for reports of an unresponsive child.
Officers arrived at the scene and found Brian's body, lying motionless in a bathtub full of hot water, which was later found to have reached temperatures of 128 degrees Fahrenheit.
Police learned Wheatley took Brian to the bathroom for a shower. Soon after, Jalesia Offer, Brian's mom and Wheatley's fiancé, found Brian unresponsive and Wheatley slumped over on the bathroom floor.
RELATED: Charging documents paint sad painful picture of young Brian Graham's last minutes
Offer woke Wheatley up and pulled Brian from the tub and called 911.
Brian later died at a local hospital, with his death being ruled as a homicide by blunt force trauma.
The Medical Examiner's Office stated Brian suffered a lacerated liver, multiple fractured ribs, and internal bleeding to the head and torso.
Wheatley told police he remembered leaving the bathroom briefly to smoke a cigarette and when he came back, he saw Brian playing with water nozzles and soaking in the tub.
He said the last thing he remembered was being woken up by Offer to help Brian out of the tub, explaining to police he suffered from a medical condition that causes him to suddenly fall asleep while sitting down.
When being asked about the marks on Brian's body, Wheatley said he play fights with him, suggesting Brian's "light skin" made him bruise easily.
Police questioned Offer about Brian's bruises and she confessed to smacking and punching her son multiple times two days prior to his death as a form of discipline for allegedly taking money from her purse.
Offer added Wheatley would also "physically discipline" Brian after she did herself.
Even after admitting to the smacking and punching, Offer blamed Brian's bruising on play fighting with his 8-year-old brother.
Detectives spoke with the brother, who was bruised as well and could not move his left arm.
He told detectives he was injured from boxing with Wheatley.
The young boy was taken into custody by Child Protective Services.
Both Wheatley and Offer were arrested and charged with first-degree child abuse resulting in the death of a child under 13 years old and first degree child abuse.
Following their arrest, WMAR-2 News later learned that Charles Graham, Brian's father, was fighting for sole custody.
Explaining his reasoning, explained in a court petition, ""He is scared to go home with his Mother, there is currently a Temporary Protective Order in place for abuse and the fact that the mother keeps putting him in dangerous situations. I am the parent best able to keep him safe. He offered to allow supervised visitation every other weekend with Brian's mother."
Wheatley pled guilty to both charges and was sentenced to life, suspending all but 50 years.
Charles Graham's fight for sole custody
