Tristian Dion Williams, 32, of Bossier City was sentenced to serve 38 years in prison at hard labor for the death of a toddler who had been left in his care by the child’s mother. In March 2017, the mother had to be hospitalized unexpectedly and left her two young daughters (who were 15 months and 28 months respectively) in the care of Williams, her boyfriend at the time. Several days into her hospitalization, the couple had a heated exchange by phone and text which caused the mother to be concerned for the children. She sent a relative to check on the young girls. When the relative arrived, the older toddler was physically unharmed but 15 month-old Serenity Sloan was found strapped into a car seat and was completely unresponsive. CPR was initiated but the child never regained consciousness and died the next day.
An autopsy was performed and it was determined that Serenity died of blunt force trauma to the head. Williams was identified as the only possible suspect and was arrested for the child’s death. He pled guilty to Manslaughter in September 2020 prior to his scheduled jury trial and faced up to 40 years in prison. Following a pre-sentence investigation, Judge Parker Self sentenced Williams to 38 years at hard labor for killing the child. Due to the age of the child, the sentence that was imposed must be served without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. In documents referenced at the sentencing hearing, Williams claimed that the child might have been injured in a fall and he believed that the child was alive and responsive when he put her in the car seat.
“All murder cases are hard to deal with but deaths involving babies are some of the toughest things we have to deal with” noted Bossier/Webster District Attorney Schuyler Marvin. “I want to thank the Bossier City Fire Department for their efforts to try to save the baby’s life and the Bossier City Police Department for their excellent investigation. I also want to thank Judge Self for his diligent review of the pre-sentence investigation and of the statements submitted by the baby’s family” Marvin continued. The grandmother said after the sentencing that “Justice was served today for Serenity Sloan”.
