Punishment for the mother of toddler Lonzie Barton in her criminal charges related to her son’s disappearance will be the maximum five years in prison, according to Judge Mark Borello’s ruling Friday.
Lonna Lauramore Barton, 26, made no comments and had no reaction to the sentence. She pleaded guilty in January to one count each of child neglect and lying to police. As part of her plea she agreed to testify against former boyfriend William Ruben Ebron Jr., but that became unnecessary when Ebron confessed and told police where Lonzie’s body had been hidden.
Friday there was no discussion about whether Lauramore Barton could still face more charges in Lonzie’s death. Lauramore Barton’s attorneys have said she didn’t know what happened to Lonzie, but Ebron told prosecutors the child drowned in the bathtub while the couple had sex in another room.
Ebron was watching Lonzie and the child’s 5-year-old sister that day while Lauramore Barton went to work as a dancer at Wacko’s on Emerson Street.
Prosecutors have not hinted on whether that claim might lead to more charges. But prosecuting her for manslaughter would be difficult since they would only have Ebron’s testimony.
One thing that came out at the sentencing was that Lauramore Barton had her tubes tied after Lonzie died. She was never pregnant, as some media reported. It was a ruse to trick Ebron, her attorney said.
Ebron hid Lonzie south of downtown Jacksonville near Bayard in July. The body was not found until Ebron led police to the child in January.
Due to the decomposition of the body, prosecutors have not been able to determine a cause of death.
Ebron pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole in February.
Lauramore Barton met him when she was a stripper at Wacko’s, and Ebron was known as someone who could supply drugs to the women. They began a romantic relationship that appeared to be focused on drugs.
Lauramore Barton still faces drug charges in Baker County. After she was originally arrested on the child-neglect charges, Lauramore Barton got out on bail. Then she, estranged husband Christopher Barton and Shawn Hall were arrested on charges of sale of Molly — a drug made of a variety of chemicals — within 1,000 feet of a specific location, possession of Molly and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Hall later died of a drug overdose after bonding out of jail.