The mother of a 5-year-old Rhea County, Tenn., boy who was beaten, forced to eat cigarette butts and drink dishwashing detergent before he died pleaded guilty this week and accepted a 60-year prison sentence.
Jessica Robbins, 25, of Spring City, pleaded guilty to facilitation of murder and aggravated child abuse and neglect during a hearing Monday in Rhea County Circuit Court. Mike Taylor, district attorney for the 12th Judicial District, said Robbins was sentenced to 60 years on the facilitation charge and 25 years on the child abuse charge, with the sentences to run concurrently.
Robbins originally was charged with first-degree felony murder, first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated child abuse and aggravated child endangerment.
Taylor said Robbins agreed to testify against her boyfriend, Bradley Adcox, who remains charged with first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder and two counts of aggravated child abuse in the 2013 death.
Jessica Robbins
Bradley AdcoxNo trial date has been set for Adcox.
Landon Robbins died of blunt-force trauma and had been made to drink dishwashing liquid and eat cigarette butts as punishment for not going to sleep, according to testimony in a preliminary hearing Sept. 18, 2013, in Rhea County General Sessions Court.
Landon had bruising and contusions all over his head and face and a bite mark on his back. Cigarette butts were found in his digestive tract during the autopsy.
Rhea County sheriff's Detective Rocky Potter testified about statements given by Adcox and Robbins describing their life in a 25-foot-long camper with Landon and his two sisters, then 3 and 4. Adcox is not related to any of the children.
According to 2013 testimony, Robbins told detectives that Adcox "was the father figure. I let him do some spanking and set down the rules."
The night before he died, Landon and his sisters were punished for not going to bed by their appointed 7:30 p.m. bedtime.
Landon began vomiting before he went to bed, and continued to get sicker through the night and into the next day, according to testimony.
On Aug. 30, 2013, his short life came to an end. A little while after eating breakfast that morning, Landon stopped breathing.
Barbara Robbins, Jessica Robbins' grandmother and Landon's great-grandmother, said Friday that she's at peace with the plea and sentence.
"I've just left it all in God's hands and trusted in him to help us make the right decisions," she said.
Barbara Robbins said she knew her granddaughter was responsible for not helping or protecting the child.
"I still cling to the thought my sister had that God took one to protect two," she said of the children. "I feel at peace with the plea bargain she made."
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.
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