BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Joshua Anderson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and third-degree battery related to the 2018 death of a 2-year-old girl in Benton County.
The 29-year-old was arrested in August 2019 and charged with capital murder for killing Sephylia Fuls, a 23-month-old toddler, also known as Sophie.
According to court documents, Anderson was also initially charged with resisting arrest and third-degree battery for injuring a Rogers police officer that tried to arrest him for murder.
On July 26, 2022, Anderson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, which receives a lesser sentence than capital murder, which would have put the death penalty on the table if the case went to court.
Anderson also pleaded guilty to third-degree battery after injuring the officer during his arrest.
According to the probable cause affidavit, along with a long bruise on Sophie's left eye, a laceration on her chin and a bruise on her forehead, an officer who reported to the hospital noticed what appeared to be a healing burn mark under her chin.
Initially, Anderson, who was the boyfriend of Sophie's mother Veronica McCoy, told police that a younger sibling had hurt Sophie while he was in the living room watching TV. He told the detective during an interrogation that the sibling must have "pushed her off the changing table."
McCoy told police she had left her three children with Anderson while she quickly ran to the store to pick up beer on Sept. 4, 2018.
The autopsy showed multiple signs of blunt force trauma as well as healed fractures to Sophie's right forearm.
The affidavit states that in January 2019 McCoy told police that while Anderson was intoxicated, she asked him what happened that night to which he reportedly admitted to beating Sophie but hadn't meant to kill her.
Anderson was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com.