ROCK ISLAND, Illinois - A judge sentenced a Rock Island man to four years in prison for the death of a baby.
"He was just limp and turning blue," said mother, Lindsey Bower.
On August 16th, 2015 police got a call that three-month-old Eli Brewer wasn't breathing. He was rushed to hospital and eventually transferred to Peoria where he died two days later.
"I can`t get the image out of my mind when I held my grandson for the last time knowing he was brain-dead, knowing the machines were going to be cut off. His body was twice the size that it was supposed to be and I stroked his head and I told him I loved him," said Eli's grandmother, Angela Segura.
Police say Eli died from injuries that were intentionally inflicted. Bower's boyfriend at the time, Robert Brewer Jr. pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Eli's family asked the judge to sentence the maximum of 14 years in prison.
Brewer's family and friends also spoke, asking for him to be released on probation.
"I want to see him come home, I think that's the best place for him to recover from all that's happened to him," said Thomas Greve, Brewer's stepfather.
The judge sentenced him to four years in prison, a sentence family members say isn't enough for the little boy whose life was cut so short.
"We go to the cemetery, now we have pictures that's what we hold onto, you know he`s never going to talk, he never going to crawl, he`s not here anymore and that's whats really sad," said Segura.
Brewer has already served eight months in Rock Island County. The judge also ordered a mandatory two-year supervision once released.