19 more years in prison for Gaston County mother in 4-year-old son's death

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A Gaston County mother will spend 19 more years in prison after she was charged in the death of her 4-year-old son.

The Gaston Gazette reports Tiffany Cheeks - who once had just eight years in prison related to her son's death - took a 27-year sentence on Wednesday when she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and child abuse.

The move came after she was indicted on a first-degree murder charge last month and her plea agreement for an eight-year sentence was stripped from her.

Malachi Golden was 4 years old when he was found dead in an apartment bedroom on May 11, 2015.

Malachi was born with several mental and developmental issues and was very dependent on care.

He died of starvation, left in a room that a judge said looked like a storage closest, while his two siblings were well-fed.

"Why?” Cheeks sister Brittany Tilley asked in a previous interview with Channel 9. “My nephew didn't deserve this. He was an innocent child and he was already dealt a bad hand in life."

Tilley said her sister made family members believe the boy died from his congenital illnesses.

"I spent as much time with her as I could because she is my sister and I wanted to console her," Tilley said.

After an autopsy, Cheeks gave police statements implicating her husband and Malachi's stepfather, Thomas Cheeks.

Tiffany Cheeks pleaded to lesser charges two years ago and agreed to testify against her husband but when he went to trial last year, she changed her testimony.

Family members said love made her choose to fight for her husband's freedom instead of uncovering the truth about her son's death.

Thomas Cheeks was still sentenced to life in prison without parole.

"I think God got her what she needed,” Tilley said. “I think she did what she was supposed to do (so that) she can get what she really deserved."

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