Waukegan man sentenced to 33 years in prison for killing 3-year-old boy
A Waukegan man was sentenced to 33 years in prison for brutally beating a 3-year-old boy to death in 2011 because the child swore while playing a video game.
Thomas Albea, 22, of the 1700 block of McAree, is required to serve 100 percent of the sentence handed down Friday by Lake County Judge Mark Levitt. Levitt also sentenced Albea to three years of probation after he man is released from the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Albea will receive about four years of credit for time he already served in Lake County jail. However, the total number of days was not released in court.
Levitt could have sentenced Albea to natural life in prison.
“It certainly has not escaped my attention that Mr. Albea is a young man who made some bad decisions in his life,” Levitt said when he issued the sentence.
Albea was found guilty March 3 on multiple counts of first-degree murder for killing X'Zavion Charleston in his mother's apartment Sept. 14, 2011.
Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Eric Kalata said X'Zavion was “viciously beaten about the chest and abdomen” after Albea became upset when the child swore while playing a video game.
Kalata said Albea, who was dating X'Zavion's mother, Qachelle Charleston, punched the boy several times in the stomach. The boy was taken to Vista Medical Center West, then transferred to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he died the next day.
Kalata said X'Zavion was beaten so viciously his internal organs “ruptured.”
Hospital workers contacted police about boy's injuries, authorities said. Albea admitted hurting the child when questioned by authorities.
Kalata asked Levitt to sentence Albea to the maximum of life in prison for the “brutal and vicious nature” of the attack. Defense attorney Gillian Gosch requested the minimum 20-year sentence.
During a quick statement in court Friday, Albea apologized to family members for hurting the child.
“I'd just like to apologize to the family for all the pain they are going through,” he said.
Levitt set a June 9 court date for any final motions to be filed by either attorney.