A 30-year-old New York City man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for causing the death of his girlfriend's 4-year-old son in 2021 after causing him numerous injuries from battered child syndrome, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.

Jerimiah Johnson, 30, of East New York, Brooklyn, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter on April 17 in the death of Jayce Eubanks, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.

Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are

  WATCH HERE

According to Gonzalez, who cited the investigation, on Sept. 12, 2021, at around 5:30 a.m., inside the Gowanus Houses, in Brooklyn, Johnson, who was holding Jayce in his arms, woke up the child's mother, Rickia Delvalle, and told her that the boy said he could not breathe and had collapsed to the floor. The mother saw that the child was not breathing and appeared completely unresponsive. Jayce was subsequently taken to Brooklyn Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead at 6:54 a.m.

An autopsy performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Jayce had both old and new injuries to his body, including his limbs, back, chest and abdomen. The child also had a healing skull fracture, multiple healing and recent rib fractures on both sides, and trauma to the stomach that caused it to perforate and provoke bleeding into the gastrointestinal tract and abdominal cavity. The cause of death was determined as battered child syndrome with recent blunt force injuries of the torso.

Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox with NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.

  SIGN UP

“The autopsy of this innocent child revealed that he suffered unthinkable and repeated abuse in his short life and ultimately died at the hands of this defendant,” Gonzalez said.