Julia Tomlin Case: 55-Year Sentence, Autopsy, and Plea

Julia Tomlin was sentenced to 55 years in prison on July 25, 2022, for killing her two-year-old son Noah Tomlin in Hampton, Virginia. The Julia Tomlin sentence was the maximum allowed on the three charges she pleaded guilty to: second-degree murder, felony child abuse and neglect, and concealment of a body.¹

How the 55 Years Breaks Down

The sentencing judge stacked the maximum term on each count: 40 years for second-degree murder, 10 years for child abuse and neglect, and 5 years for concealment of a body. Tomlin’s defense had asked for 25 years, citing her heroin and alcohol use at the time of Noah’s death. The judge rejected that request. Given a chance to address the court, Tomlin declined to speak.¹

The judge told the courtroom that “every life is precious” and that “Noah had a lot of life left to live.” Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell said Tomlin “should have never had custody over that child” and rejected any suggestion of remorse: “You don’t torture someone and then say ‘I feel remorseful toward that person.’ You’re remorseful that you got caught.”¹ She is serving the sentence in the Virginia prison system.²

What She Did

Prosecutors said Tomlin killed Noah on June 22, 2019, two days before she reported him missing from their trailer at the Bayside Village Mobile Home Park. She told police she had last seen him around 1:00 a.m. and called authorities at 11:36 a.m.³ Her own account to investigators was that Noah had hit his head and drowned after she left him unattended in the bathtub, and that she was on heroin that day. The forensic evidence contradicted the drowning story.⁴

After Noah’s death, Tomlin placed his body in a Pampers diaper box, wrapped it in garbage bags, and had a friend dispose of it in a dumpster. Investigators found blood splatter on a bedroom wall and a blood-stained bed sheet in trash outside the home, along with signs that someone had tried to clean up. A police officer discovered the child’s remains at the Hampton NASA steam plant on the morning of July 3, 2019.⁵ The medical examiner confirmed the identification on July 13.⁶

What the Autopsy Showed

The autopsy, released publicly on October 31, 2019, listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head and battered child syndrome. Assistant Chief Medical Examiner Wendy Gunther said Noah’s two skull fractures required “extreme force,” comparable to a fall from a multi-story building or being swung by the legs into a wall.⁴

The body was so decomposed that an anthropologist had to reconstruct Noah’s skeleton from bone fragments; Bell said only the liver and the left leg, which showed severe bruising, were recognizable. Beyond the fatal head injuries, the examiner documented jaw fractures, three healing rib fractures, and hairline fractures in the tibia and radius. Bell said the abuse had been so prolonged and severe that Noah’s bones had stopped growing.⁷

Tomlin’s History With Her Children

Tomlin is a mother of ten. In 2010, she was convicted of felony child neglect in Newport News, Virginia, after her one-year-old daughter suffered burns to her back and shoulders when Tomlin placed her on a hot stove.⁴

At sentencing, Tomlin’s 19-year-old daughter told the court that she and her siblings had been abused and neglected throughout their childhoods and were frequently left to care for younger siblings from a young age. She said Tomlin was never a fit parent and never prioritized any of her children. Noah’s paternal grandmother and her husband were caring for three of Tomlin’s oldest children.⁸

From Arrest to Plea

Tomlin was arrested on June 28, 2019, four days after reporting Noah missing, and was initially charged with three counts of felony child neglect involving Noah and two other children.⁵ After the autopsy results came out, the charges were upgraded to include murder and unlawful disposal of a body.⁷

The case moved slowly. Tomlin was found competent to stand trial after a video mental health evaluation.⁹ In June 2021, Judge Michael Gaten removed the Hampton Public Defender’s Office from the case after the Commonwealth’s Attorney argued the defense was unprepared following multiple continuances, and appointed private attorney Tyrone Johnson.¹⁰ Tomlin entered her guilty plea on December 14, 2021.¹¹ Sentencing, first set for March 18, 2022, was rescheduled to July 25, when the maximum sentence came down.¹²