The mother and father of a slain 4-year-old boy were on opposing sides when it came to the punishment the boy’s aunt, who was sentenced to 22 years for beating her nephew to death with a belt.
“Your honor, I’m asking you for leniency for my sister,” said Natasha Dale, the mother of little Ethan Ali, who was beaten to death in Brooklyn by his aunt after he misspelled his name.
“Your honor, I’m asking for the maximum sentence,” said the boy’s father, Leroy Ali, sitting on the opposite side of the court from Dale.
Christen Dale, the aunt in question, had moved into the apartment with the boy’s family in February 2015 in order to help Ethan’s parents to take care of him while they were working. She was allegedly teaching him to spell his name and became frustrated, hitting him with the belt for each letter of his name because she felt he was not focusing.
“Five blows to the back of the head, belt marks all over his body … This is just a small punishment to the rest of his body, this went non-stop for minutes,” said Assistant DA Frank DeGaetano in court.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Miriam Cyrulnik had harsh words for the emotional aunt as she handed down the 22-year sentence: “There was no spot on his body spared. He was bruised and beaten from head to toe, literally … Your sister trusted you with her only child, her life will never be the same, nor will your life.”