Life Sentence For Colo. Man Who Slashed Throat Of Son, 6

CENTENNIAL, CO -- An Arapahoe County man was sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to slashing the throat of his six-year-old son and raping his former girlfriend in 2016.

Arapahoe District Court Chief Judge Carlos Samour sentenced Brandon Jamaal Johnson, 28, to life without parole plus 54 years after he pleaded guilty to all charges against him, according to a statement from the 18th Judicial Dist. District Attorney's office.

Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.

On Feb. 10, 2016, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s deputies responded to an apartment on East Harvard Avenue after a woman called to say her ex-boyfriend had sexually assaulted her at knifepoint and was threatening to kill his two young sons, Johnson's arrest affidavit said.

Inside the apartment, they found 6-year-old Riley Johnson dead. His throat had been slit. They also found a kitchen knife nearby and Johnson with injuries to his own neck. He was taken to the hospital and survived. A 2-year-old boy in the apartment was unharmed.

“Riley ran seeking help and safety, but he couldn’t find it,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney John Kellner, in a statement. “Riley knew in his last moments that the person who had done this to him was the person he should be able to trust more than any other person in the world.”

According to the DA's office:

Riley was Johnson’s son from a previous relationship. He and the woman he assaulted were parents of the 2-year-old. Johnson was still living in the woman’s apartment even though they had broken up. The two slept in separate bedrooms while he was looking for a different place to live.

Johnson on Friday pleaded guilty to:

• First-degree murder of a child under 12
• First-degree murder after deliberation
• Child abuse resulting in death
• Sexual assault
• Felony menacing

Judge Samour sentenced Johnson to life in prison without possibility of parole for murdering his child; 48 years to life on the sex assault; and 6 years on the menacing count, the DA's office said. Samour ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.

“There is no excuse for what you did. Riley suffered what can only be described as a horrific death,” Samour told Johnson in imposing the sentence, according to a press release. “This was an incredibly selfish and cowardly act and inexcusable. … You had no right to make the decision whether Riley would be in this world or not.”

Image via Arapahoe County Sheriff's office