COLUMBUS, Ohio — A 26-year-old man will spend the next 18 years behind bars after investigators say he beat a toddler to death over a diaper accident and then tried to cover it up with a drowning story.
Dioblis Williams was sentenced this week to between 13 and 18 and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and endangering children in the death of 2-year-old Ja’Mir Jones.
What Happened That Day
On March 25, 2020, Williams called Columbus police saying that Ja’Mir had drowned in the bathtub. Officers arrived to find the toddler not breathing. He was rushed to a children’s hospital and pronounced dead.
Investigators were suspicious from the start.
An autopsy revealed that Ja’Mir did not drown. His lungs were unobstructed. His death was caused by blunt force trauma to the abdomen. The boy had visible bruising on his face, torso, and neck.
Court records showed that Williams, who was babysitting Ja’Mir that day as the boyfriend of the boy’s mother, repeatedly struck the child after he had an accident in his diaper.
Years on the Run — Then Caught in a Wig
Williams fled and avoided justice for more than six years.
He was eventually tracked to Framingham, Massachusetts, where a K-9 officer spotted him on the sidewalk wearing a wig. Officers confirmed his identity and took him into custody. He was returned to Ohio to face the charges.
Ja’Mir Jones was just two years old. He never had a chance.
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