Bethea v. State

Weltner, Justice.

Johnny Bethea was convicted in Chatham County of felony murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The victim, Keyvian Clowers, was the twenty-two-month-old son of Patricia Clowers, with whom Bethea was living at the time of the child’s death.

1. Medical testimony indicated that the child had sustained injuries from blows to his head and abdomen which had been inflicted over a period of several days. The immediate cause of death was a blow to the stomach which ruptured his liver, causing bleeding into the abdominal cavity.

The investigating officer testified that he responded…