Friday, July 28th 2017, 10:53 pm
It took more than a year, but a baby found dead inside a Tulsa shed finally has justice tonight.
A judge sentenced the 6-month old's mother to 25 years and her boyfriend to life in prison for child neglect and drug possession.
7/27/2017 Related Story: Neglect Trial For Tulsa Parents Of Dead 6-Month-Old Coming To Close
"Arrow was a victim because of drug addiction, he was a silent voice," Tulsa District Attorney Steven Kunzweiler said.
Arrow Hyden lived just six months.
His young life was cut short in January 2016 by people who were supposed to care for him.
7/28/2017: Tulsa Mother, Boyfriend Sentenced After Death Of 6-Month-Old
His mother Anna Hyden and her boyfriend Kevin Crawford pleaded guilty to neglect after police found the baby dead inside the shed where they lived.
After a four-day hearing, a judge sentenced the couple, saying baby Arrow suffered horrendous neglect.
"We get to look at the picture of a body of a dead baby, this little boy, this little child. We have no picture to my knowledge of any happiness in this child's life," Kunzweiler said.
Hyden's attorney addressed his client's upbringing while Crawford's lawyer says he was just giving a mother and child a place to stay.
But the judge said the couple's drug addictions put Hyden in greater danger.
"It is never going to be an excuse to neglect or deprive a child just because you've got some kind of drug problem," Kunzweiler said.
"They completely failed Arrow, and so they can get treatment while they are in the Department of Corrections, but they have to also be punished for what they inflicted upon him," said Sarah McAmis, assistant district attorney.
Kunzweiler hopes people remember Hyden's story when voting on criminal justice reform.
"We all recognize that we want to be able to provide people with rehabilitation, there is a cost that is going on in our community and we cannot afford to have our young people and our elderly be exploited and victimized like this young child was," he said.
The judge did take into consideration each defendant's criminal history as part of their sentencing.
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