myers
DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The man found guilty of murdering a Decatur 2-year-old was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
 
A jury found Anthony Myers guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Ta'Naja Barnes back in July.
 
The prosecution had asked for a sentence of 75 years in prison to be imposed on Anthony Myers after he was convicted of murder. The defense insisted that was too much when the child's mother was sentenced to 20 years for her part in the murder. The defense said Myers sentence should be the same.
 
The judge pointed out Myers did not have a long criminal history, only a misdemeanor for criminal trespass.
 
However, the judge said Myers did not accept responsibility for his part in Ta'Naja Barnes' death.
 
The 30 year sentence will have to be served at 100 percent.
 
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Myers' attorney made a motion for a new trial citing records they said were not properly introduced in court, but the motion was denied by the judge.
 
Authorities discovered the body of Ta'Naja on the morning of Feb. 11, 2019. Police said the child was dirty, unresponsive and wrapped in a urine-soaked blanket. Her body temperature was too cold for first responders at the scene to measure. 
 
Police said sinks and toilets in the home, which was occupied by Ta'naja's mother, Twanka Davis, and Anthony Myers, her live-in boyfriend, were filled to the brim with waste water. Authorities had documented "the overwhelming smell of urine, feces and rotten food/garbage" in the home, along with signs of rodent and insect infestations. The interior temperature in the home was 45 degrees.
 
Davis pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder in Sept. 2019 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison as part of a plea deal. Myers, who is not the biological father of Ta'Naja, faced trial in July 2020 on charges of first-degree murder and child endangerment causing death.
 
WAND-TV documented the trial process as it happened. Click here to read the record from the week of July 13.
 
In court Wednesday, a victim impact statement in the form of a letter from Dartavius Barnes, Ta'Naja's biological father was read. In it, he talked about how he will never get to walk her to her first day of school, teach her how to ride a bike or tie her shoes. All of that, he said, was taken from him.
 
He said he had asked Myers and his ex to let him have Ta'Naja and questioned why they did not just give her to him.
 
"There's an emptiness in my heart. It will never go away. I will never see that beautiful smile again or hear her calling me dada," Barnes wrote in the letter.
 
He wrote about being hurt that his other daughter will not be able to grow up with Ta'Naja.
 
"I tried so hard to be a father, but Anthony wouldn't let me... The anger he had for me, he took that out on her, and that breaks my heart over and over again. She was just a baby. She didn't deserve that kind of life. She was so sweet and lovable. Because of their actions, my baby girl suffered, and she lost her life."
 
Anthony Myers made a statement before his sentence was announced saying in part, "We can all agree this is a tragic situation," Myers said. "Ta'Naja really did love me... if I was a monster to her, she wouldn't love me." He said he was doing his best to help out and care for her. "I'm still going to have to live with this situation for the rest of my life."
 
He added, "I really do wish that you would give me mercy... I'm not a violent person."
 
The prosecution went into graphic detail about Ta'Naja's condition when she was found. The child lost 18 percent of her body weight in the two months that she had been returned to her mother's home with Myers. Her body temperature was so low when she was found it could not register on a thermometer. She was left alone in her room "to freeze to death," the prosecutor said.
 
They also pointed out that Myers' son was well cared for and even overweight. They said he manipulated DCFS to regain custody of his own son and "get back" at Dartavius Barnes, because they did not like one another.
 
Myers and his attorney will have 30 days from Wednesday to appeal the sentence.