JORDAN EASON-DENEAL - 4 yo (2007) - Mays Landing NJ

MAYS LANDING- It was an emotional sentencing in superior court today as
a family spoke out on the tragic death of a 4-year-old boy killed by
his very own father. The boy's mother and her family say no amount of
jail time can make up for the short time they had with the young boy.

"I
can't get over how empty I feel. I am amazed life can go on for any
mother that loses a child,” said 24-year-old Schvonne Eason, sitting in
Superior Court. She says it’s been two long, painful years since she
last heard her 4-year-old son, Jordan, say “I love you” or was able to
kiss him goodnight.

Eason's tormented by the night of December
10, 2007, when she left him with the boys father, Joseph Deneal II at
his apartment in Somers Point. "Jordan trusted me to keep him safe but
I feel like I failed him."

While the couple was not together,
Eason thought it was important for her son to spend time with his
father, unaware that the man who was supposed to love him and take care
of him, would take his life away. Eason’s aunt said, "You were the very
person who was supposed to protect him...but yet you were the one he
should've been protected from."

An emotionless Deneal listened
to their words, waiting to hear his sentence for admittedly beating his
son to death on that very night. "You took him not just from his mother
and his sister, you took him from the world that loved him."

Jordan's
aunt describes between tears how painful it is that memories are all
they have left. "Every single day I look back and try to remember every
single thing he did because I'm so afraid that one day I'll wake up and
not remember the way he laughed, the way he cried, or the way his hand
felt in mine…without him, something is missing from each of our hearts."

When
it was his turn to talk, Deneal gave Eason and her family an insincere
apology, saying that he's hurting more than they are. "I keep on
apologizing and its going in one ear and out the other...I feel the
same way that ya'll feel, like I didn't intentionally, really mean
to...I'm hurt more than ya'll hurt."

Although Deneal was
sentenced to 15 years behind bars, Eason’s family says no amount of
time will ever make up for the short time they had with Jordan. "You
need to realize and understand that you have one more judge you have to
sit in front of and when that day comes, Jordan will be there and you
will have to look at him and then God will give you the real sentence
that you deserve."

In accordance with a December plea agreement,
Deneal must serve 85 percent of his 15-year sentence for aggravated
manslaughter before becoming eligible for parole.