A Florida woman, Te’Lea Jefferson, 28, has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading no contest to the brutal murder of her girlfriend’s 3-year-old son, Miguel, in 2020. She also received an additional 30-year sentence for aggravated child abuse.
According to court records and a probable cause affidavit, Jefferson fatally struck the boy multiple times with a tire iron and waited over three hours before taking him to the hospital — by which time he was “likely deceased.” When she finally arrived at the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare emergency room at 7 p.m. on October 19, 2020, Miguel was unresponsive, had severe head trauma, and a dangerously low body temperature of 88°F. He was pronounced dead minutes after arrival.
Initially, Jefferson claimed the injuries resulted from a fall in the bathroom, stating Miguel had fallen while brushing his teeth, hitting and shattering the toilet. However, detectives found her story inconsistent with Miguel’s wounds — including six deep lacerations to the head and face and a nearly severed finger — and determined his injuries did not align with an accidental fall. Investigators also found evidence of older injuries on the child, indicating a pattern of abuse.
Under questioning, Jefferson admitted to becoming enraged when Miguel refused to get down from the bathroom sink. She retrieved a tire iron from a nearby tool kit and threw it at the child, striking his face. She then hit him three or four more times. “She recalled seeing blood spray from [Miguel’s] wounds as she struck him,” detectives wrote in the affidavit.
Jefferson lived with Miguel, his 6-year-old sibling, and their mother, who was at work at the time of the incident. Authorities later determined both children had suffered previous abuse. The Department of Children and Families removed the surviving sibling from the home.
Prosecutors had initially sought the death penalty but accepted a plea deal. Jefferson has remained in jail since her 2020 arrest.
