Virginia Beach woman sentenced to 6 years for death of her 3-month-old baby

A Virginia Beach woman was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison for the 2020 death of her 3-month-old baby.

Aalysia Rogers, 23, was arrested after an autopsy showed her daughter, Alaila Williams, died from blunt force injuries to her head, neck, torso, arms and legs.

The medical examiner, however, wasn’t able to determine a cause of death, so Rogers was charged with multiple counts of child abuse rather than murder, according to a spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. She pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of child cruelty and abuse and one count of reckless care of a child.

While the combined maximum penalty for the crimes is 25 years in prison, state sentencing guidelines suggested Rogers serve a term between eight to 26 months based on her background and the circumstances of the crime.

Defense attorney James Broccoletti asked Circuit Judge Tanya Bullock to sentence his client to the 11 months she already spent in jail awaiting trial. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Megan Lang asked for a sentence of 15 years, calling the guidelines and Broccoletti’s suggestion “grossly inadequate.”

“This child was shaken, hit, malnourished and neglected,” Lang told the judge. “She suffered for months and now she is dead.”

According to a statement of facts entered into evidence, Alaila’s father, Cedric Williams, called 911 on April 27, 2020, to report the girl was not breathing. He told police he was giving her a bath when she began to gasp. She was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead hours later. Williams also was charged in his daughter’s death and faces a single count of reckless care of a child. His case is still pending.

In addition to the physical injuries Alaila suffered, she was so malnourished that her weight dropped from the 48th percentile at birth to the 0 percentile at the time of her death, and her height plunged from the 94th percentile to the 6th, the statement said.

When Rogers was asked by police to explain the child’s injuries, she said she may have hurt the girl’s head when she dropped a cellphone on her, or possibly by hitting her head on a faucet while washing her hair. She said her neck injuries could have been the result of Rogers slamming the brakes in her car. The prosecution’s expert witnesses, however, said such incidents couldn’t have caused the injuries.

Williams testified during Wednesday’s hearing that he split time between Rogers’ home and his mother’s home, and that Rogers was the girl’s primary caregiver. He said he wasn’t with the girl during the weekend before she died, which is when prosecutors say she sustained most of the fatal injuries.

Rogers and Williams also have a son born less than a year after Alaila’s death. The child is being raised by Rogers’ family.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com