MARTINEZ — A Richmond man and woman were sentenced Friday to 25 years to life for killing their 5-week-old son through neglect, exposure to drugs and beatings.
Ray Ray Darn 37, and Marilyn Northington, 30, received the identical sentences at a Friday morning court appearance before Judge Terri Mockler. In October, Darn and Northington were acquitted of murder but convicted of assault on a child causing death and involuntary manslaughter in the death of their son, Amary Darn.
Amary suffered extensive, horrific injuries and ailments that included broken bones in multiple places, sores, burns, starvation and methamphetamine in his bloodstream. Amary died in February 2021, after going unresponsive in the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Richmond, where he, his parents and siblings were living through a Greater Richmond Interfaith Program that used the Hilltop area hotel to provide housing for people who couldn’t afford it during the coronavirus pandemic.
During the trial, both parents’ attorneys attempted to blame the other party.
Darn’s lawyer contended that Amary died of “toxic breast milk” from his drug-addicted mother and said the pathologist contracted by the county to do the baby’s autopsy made serious errors. Northington’s lawyer painted Darn as a serial abuser whose victims included Northington, and said he took advantage of her intellectual disability to make her reliant on him.
Jurors partially accepted the theories, voting to acquit Darn and Northington over murder while convicting them of the assault and manslaughter offenses. The charge of assault on a child causing death, though, carries a 25 years to life sentence, the same as a first-degree murder offense.
Both Darn and Northington remain in county jail awaiting transfer to state prison.