LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Jermaine Garnes sat emotionless as he was sentenced to 65 years behind bars for the murder of 3-year-old Zeus Cox.

“Why? I don’t know. I don’t know why it happened,” Judge Randy Williams, Tippecanoe County Superior Court 1, rhetorically asked Garnes during the sentencing hearing on Friday.

“I just know it did happen.”

“It would be nice if this was the last time this happened.”

Garnes was convicted of murdering his girlfriend's nonverbal and autistic 3-year-old son, Zeus Cox, on the night of July 4, 2021.

Crystal Cox was sentenced in June 2022 to 53 years in prison, followed by two years of probation, for her involvement with the murder of Zeus.

During his trial, the prosecution detailed that Garnes repeatedly punched the 3-year-old, inflicting painful injuries on the boy, and leaving him with a ruptured kidney, four ruptures in his small intestines and two broken ribs.

“What did it sound like? Did it sound like someone punching a heavy bag?” Williams continued.

Williams spoke of the horrific nature of the case and expressed how this was one of the most violent he has seen.

“One of the duties we have as adults is to protect our children,” Williams said. “Especially when they have needs… who else can they rely on?”

During the hearing, Williams expressed how Garnes' actions didn’t only result in the death of Zeus, Zeus being taken away from his family forever, but also how his actions have victimized his own son.

During the trial, Garnes' son was brought into court to testify against his father twice.

At the time of the murder, his son was 9 and testified that he witnessed the attack on Zeus.

“Mr. Garnes, I think of your son that came in twice. Came in twice to testify,”

“Your son coming in here stoned-faced.

“You think because of his age he’s going to forget that? You’re wrong.”

Before the end of the hearing, Williams asked Zeus's family members what his birthday was.

April 25.

In April, Zeus would have turned 5 years old.

“We don’t know the joy he will have brought to his family members,” he said.

“We won’t know because of you.”

In January, jurors found Garnes guilty of murder; guilty of neglect of a child resulting in death; guilty of aggravated battery resulting in death; and guilty of battery of a person younger than 14 resulting in death.

Garnes was only sentenced on the murder conviction, and the other charges were vacated.

Williams sentenced Garnes to the maximum amount for murder under Indiana law.

Garnes was ordered to serve 64 years in the Indiana Department of Correction facility, and one year on supervised probation.

After Garnes was taken away by the bailiffs, members of Zeus’ family went up to the prosecutor team, hugged and thanked them for putting Garnes behind bars for the next six decades.

Garnes planned on filing an appeal regarding his case after he was sentenced.

After the sentencing hearing, Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington spoke with reporters about the case.

“Honestly, it shows you the nature of this case and the fact that the maximum sentence is 65 years, and the court gave that. It shows the violence in this case,” Harrington said.

“You know, we in our community wonder, where is evil and how much evil is there. And in my tenure as a prosecutor, this is one of the worse cases. This child was 3 years old, was autistic, was nonverbal, could not cry out for help or anything.

“This did not occur in one incident and to have his sibling, an older child, witnessed this horrific beating of a child. I don’t know what else — how much more evil you can have in a case.”

With both Jermaine Garnes and Crystal Cox imprisoned for the murder of Zeus, members of the family were willing to speak to reporters.

One of the first things Madison Cox, Zeus’ older cousin, spoke about was the love that she held for Zeus.

“He was like a little brother to me. He was my everything. If I was having a bad day, I would come home, and he would be waiting for me. He would be waiting for the bus and he would come up run in my arms,” said Madison.

“He was just my everything, and now that’s been taken away.”

Madison wished she could have defended Zeus that day.

She shared memories of Zeus, how he was a cheerful little boy who could light any room that he entered. She shared moments of when he would act like any crazy little boy, running up the stairs just to throw his cup and watch it roll down the stairs.

“He was just the most lovable little boy. I’m going to miss his hug and his kisses,” Madison Cox said as tears began to run down her face.

Members of the family shared their feelings on how they believe the Indiana Department of Child Services failed Zeus.

“I think they failed him big time. They were the ones that let Crystal take him back into custody and we noticed the abuse right away," Madison Cox said. "He would come home with bruises on him.

“She would come home smelling like pot, and she would be like, 'Oh, (Zeus) fell in the bathtub,' or he fell off his bike. And that’s clearly not accurate.”

Cynthia Emery, Zeus' aunt, said family had tried to convince DCS not to allow Zeus to go back his mother. The family had evidence that she said they could provide to DCS, but ultimately, Zeus was returned to Crystal.

“I had mentioned to Child Protective Service that I felt within the two weeks that Zeus may end up, that something may end up happening to him. And I hate the fact that it was actually true. I looked at the CPS worker and said that I give it two weeks. And he’ll either be in the hospital or dead,” Emery said.

Overall, Zeus’ family was happy with the sentence that Garnes had received from the court.

“I like it (the sentence of Garnes). I think it’s good. He's 30-something years old, so he’s going to be old when he gets out. And from what I heard, he’s not doing good in jail or prison. He’s already gotten into fights and stuff. And he’s going to find someone that’s going to beat his a**,” Madison said.

“If someone else doesn’t do it, then I just want to do it.”

Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter at 1NoePadilla.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Garnes receives 65 years for murder of girlfriend's 3-year-old