Mansfield man gets 50 years in prison for repeated beatings that left young child with severe brain injuries

A Mansfield man whose repeated beatings of his girlfriend's young daughter left the child in a coma with permanent brain damage was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years in prison.

Adam Carrol Palmer, 29, who served time in prison for beating another child in 2003, pleaded guilty to causing injuries to the then-2-year-old child, who now lives in a nursing home for children in East Texas.

The child's mother, Ryka Telan Hopper, 29, was convicted by a Tarrant County jury in November and sentenced to 40 years in prison for failing to protect the child from Palmer's repeated beatings.

"He is a cruel coward," prosecutor Eric Nickols, who tried the case with Kelly Meador, said in a written statement. "He preyed on the weakest and most innocent among us. He deserves every second he got."

Hopper's defense attorneys had described Palmer as a "despicable, diabolical man" who preyed on the uneducated Hopper. But Hopper took the stand in her own defense and told a rambling, inconsistent tale that included repeated admissions that she was a liar.

Palmer was sentenced in the state District Judge Louis Sturns' court. 

-Dianna Hunt

Comments

[punkin003]

What a truly sad, tragic story. Thank God the adults got so many years. Bless this poor baby. My heart goes out to her.

[jack nance]

This type of guy is why we need the return of Charles Bronson to the streets!!!

[Crystal Munoz]

Sick

[Maryland Speeding Ticket Lawyer]

50 years in prison is not enough on what he did.

[LesleyPezley]

This so-called mother is as evil - or more so - than this cowardly monster. Who would let their 2-year-old baby be around a person who has been convicted and served time for beating a child in the past?!?

[Nunya Bidniss]

Moreover, who the hell could sit on a parole board and free a monster who'd permanently destroyed a child? Justice should now fall on those boardmembers.