A North Side man will serve several years in prison after he pleaded guilty Thursday in connection to the 2018 death of a 3-year-old boy.

Jamal Williams, 24, appeared remotely before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Randal Todd and pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and recklessly endangering another person. Williams was charged in the death of 3-year-old Major Troutman.

In exchange for the guilty plea, the District Attorney’s office agreed to a sentence of eight to 16 years in prison, office spokesman Mike Manko said.

Williams had been staying with his girlfriend, Asia Christian, and her son, Major, on Feb. 6, 2018, when Ms. Christian left to pay rent, according to a criminal complaint. When she returned, she saw Williams taking Major into the boy’s bedroom after giving him a bath.

She went into the bathroom and heard a loud “thump” from the bedroom, she told police. A neighbor told investigators that three or four “big” thumps had come from the apartment.

When the woman entered the bedroom, she saw Williams holding Major by the torso, as if he were trying to get the boy to respond, the complaint says. Williams told her it was “just an accident” and the two had been playing and wrestling.

Major was taken to UPMC Children’s, where he was pronounced dead due to head injuries, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner.

Although Williams had initially told his girlfriend that Major was injured by accident, a doctor at Children’s told police he’d ruled out accidental causes since the injuries to Major’s head and extremities appeared to be the result of child abuse.

The medical examiner’s office ruled the death a homicide.

Williams also entered pleas Thursday in three unrelated cases, which landed him a concurrent sentence of four to eight years, Mr. Manko said.

Mick Stinelli: mstinelli@post-gazette.com; 412-263-1869; and on Twitter: @MickStinelli

First Published: November 12, 2020, 6:12 p.m.