Great-aunt sentenced to 36 years in prison for beating 8-year-old Colorado boy to death

The woman who pleaded guilty to beating her 8-year-old great-nephew to death in October has been sentenced to 36 years in prison in Denver District Court.

Susan Baffour, a 63-year-old woman from Denver, pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse, a Class 2 Felony, on Oct. 16 — a plea deal that dropped the charge of first-degree murder from her case, according to the district court case file.

On Nov. 27, Denver District Judge Alex Myers sentenced Baffour to 36 years in prison, 5 years of mandatory parole and $1,928.50 in monetary fines. Myers could have sentenced Baffour to a maximum 48 years in prison.

“Dametrious Wilson’s death was a terrible tragedy for his family and friends and for the entire City of Denver,” District Attorney Beth McCann said in an emailed statement. “This sentence all but ensures that Susan Baffour will never be able to hurt anyone again. I want to thank the prosecutors and investigators in my office, as well as the detectives with the Denver Police Department, whose hard work on the case brought about this successful resolution.”

Just before 8:30 a.m. on June 3, 2022, Denver police officers responded to an apartment in the 1900 block of North Ulster Street, where 8-year-old Dametrious Wilson was found unconscious after Baffour beat him with a wooden back scrubber the night before.

According to the arrest affidavit, Baffour wanted to discipline Wilson for tearing part of her couch.

After taking him with her to Home Depot to get supplies, Baffour used duct tape to bind Wilson’s arms and legs together and cover his mouth before hitting him more than 40 times with the back scrubber, the affidavit stated.

Baffour told police she treated Wilson’s injuries before bed, and he drank a glass of water overnight, the affidavit stated. When she checked on him around 8 a.m., he would not wake up and she attempted to give CPR compressions.

At 8:41 a.m., paramedics pronounced Wilson dead at the scene.

Baffour had been awarded custody over Wilson and his now-11-year-old sister in 2017 because their mother was unable to care for them, according to the arrest affidavit.