Left: Cinceir Croxton Sr. (Spotsylvania Sheriff”s Office). Right: Cinceir Croxton Jr (Waddy Funeral Home).
A Virginia man will spend two decades behind bars after his 2-year-old son who spent time in a Pack ‘n Play with snakes died with cocaine in his system.
Cinceir Croxton, 25, on Monday was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the death of Cinceir “CJ” Croxton Jr. Croxton pleaded guilty last fall to second-degree murder, child abuse and drug charges.
According to local ABC affiliate WRIC, CJ died on Dec. 7, 2023. Croxton and the boy’s mother, Kahleighya Coleman, were arrested several months later.
CJ and his parents were staying at an Econo Lodge in Spotsylvania, in part because they did not want authorities looking into the treatment of the boy. Croxton noticed his son was unconscious and called 911. CJ was rushed to the hospital, where he later died.
WRIC reported that doctors called cops after CJ tested positive for cocaine. Detectives with the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office responded to the hotel room, where they found cocaine on a PlayStation and in an unlocked safe, along with a gun in a clothes hamper. In all, deputies collected about 70 grams of cocaine and $4,000 in cash.
Also in the hotel room was a Pack ‘n Play containing a reptile cage with snakes, WRIC reported. CJ reportedly tested positive for salmonella, which is carried by snakes. When the hospital tried to treat CJ for salmonella, Croxton and Coleman refused to allow them to do so.
CJ also had sickle cell disease, which needed treatment every two months, but he received none. Child Protective Services began investigating the parents when CJ was 6 months old after the agency received a complaint that Croxton would leave CJ alone in his car seat with loud music playing when he was fussy because he could not “tolerate him crying.”
However, Croxton moved the family from their home which made it difficult for CPS to find them. CPS marked the case incomplete.
Coleman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and child abuse charges last month and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, WRIC reported.
Croxton claimed at sentencing that he loved his son “dearly,” but Judge William Glover said CJ’s living situation “inevitably” killed him.
“None of these actions were accident,” Glover told Croxton, per WRIC. “It was a series of choices you made.”
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