October 16, 2018
GUILTY! That was the verdict from a Loudon County jury this morning in the trial of two people accused in the death of a Morgan County toddler. Court records state 17-month-old Levi Beaty died in June of 2014. His mother, Amanda Beaty, and her boyfriend, Rodger Prince, were indicted later that year by a Morgan County grand jury. Both were charged with felony murder and aggravated child abuse. Both Beaty and Prince pleaded not guilty, claiming Levi choked on a cookie. However, an autopsy on the child showed multiple blunt force injuries he sustained.
Judge Wicks immediately rendered life sentences to both defendants.
The Department of Children’s Services had an open case on Amanda Beaty and Rodger Dale Prince at the time but had not removed Levi from the home, although there was an active court order that prohibited Amanda Beaty from allowing Prince to be in the home and around Levi. It would later be learned through the TBI investigation that Levi had been seen on at least two prior occasions at Children’s Hospital in Knoxville for severe injuries to his spine that had actually resulted in fractures. Dr. Milusenic testified at trial that the final cause of death was Levi’s aorta being ruptured and essentially ripped in half, trauma that was consistent with a high impact collision similar to ‘an automobile accident or being kicked by a horse’.
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