JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Lonna Barton was sentenced to five years on child neglect charges related to the death of her 21-month-old son Lonzie, a Duval County judge ruled Friday.
Barton had previously entered a guilty plea to charged of child neglect and lying to police last month.
Barton and prosecutors reached in a plea deal in January. Barton agreed to testify against her boyfriend, Ruben Ebron, who later pleaded to several counts in Lonzie's death and was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
In attendance at the hearing were the parents of both Barton and Ebron. Barton nor her parents testified in court.
"Lonna and I were both involved and now we have to pay the price," Ebron said at the hearing where he pleaded guilty to four counts related to the death of toddler.
In court, Ebron testified that he left Lonzie unattended in the bathtub of the home he shared with the toddler's mother. Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Chief Tom Hackney said that Barton and Ebron were having sex while Lonzie was in the bathtub.
When he and the child's mother returned, the child was face down in the tub, dead, according to Hackney.
That's when Ebron staged the elaborate false kidnapping of the child, prompting a massive weeks-long search across the city. An AMBER Alert was issued and hundreds of police officers and volunteers scoured the area.
Barton still faces drug charges in Baker County.