A Florida mother will spend significant time in prison for torturing her 6-year-old son — locking him in cages, asphyxiating him until he fell asleep, withholding food, and physically abusing him — until he drowned to death while forced to take a bath in a pitch black, locked bathroom without electricity.
On Monday, a Polk County Judge sentenced Alize Seymore to 20 years in a state prison for her role in the murder of young Anthony Rouse.
Alize Seymore was indicted in September 2023 on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, witness tampering, child abuse, and causing a minor to become delinquent or dependent.
However, she struck a deal with prosecutors and agreed to plead guilty to two counts of aggravated child abuse just as jury selection for her trial was about to begin. She was then sentenced to 20 years on each count, to be served concurrently, which means simultaneously.
Tre Seymore, Anthony’s stepfather, had previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter, child abuse, and causing a minor to become delinquent or dependent.
He received a 30-year sentence with the condition that he testify against Alize Seymore.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to an emergency call at a home in Eagle Lake, Florida, around 3:20 p.m. on April 22, 2023, regarding a report of a child drowning in the bathtub.
First responders transported Anthony to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, where he was put on life support. He was monitored for two days and showed no brain activity before being pronounced dead.
Alize Seymore told police that after her son urinated on himself, she locked him in the bathroom and told him to take a bath, according to a probable cause affidavit.
She allegedly claimed she discovered the boy “lying face down in the water in the bathtub” after checking on him 20 minutes later, pausing from her TikTok use and prying open the bathroom door with a fork.
Deputies discovered that the bathroom had no electricity because the breakers had been cut, and there were no windows; Anthony took a bath in the “completely dark” bathroom.
Authorities said they also discovered that the defendants had sent incriminating texts in the days and weeks preceding Anthony’s death.
On March 31, the couple exchanged messages about the victim being caught stealing “a handful of noodles” and being placed in a “cage,” escaping, and then being returned to the cage.
On April 1, Alize Seymore allegedly wrote: “Bro, imma end up killing this fat b—, my house is getting f—ing dirty because of him, walls in garage turning f—ing black gt marks and s— like bro.”
Later, she allegedly sent her husband a video of Anthony inside the cage, with Alize saying, “He [can] stay in that f—ing s— and rottttt.”
In the days that followed, Alize Seymore allegedly texted “I hate him,” referring to the victim, and claimed she was “too busy with the other kids I love and care about [sic].”
The day before Anthony drowned in the bathtub, she allegedly expressed her desire to place him for adoption.
According to the affidavit, one of Anthony’s siblings told investigators that he initially lied about the circumstances of Anthony’s drowning because his mother threatened him, which explains the witness tampering charge in the indictment.
“During the interview, [redacted] stated that the victim got in trouble for stealing food, and as a result, Tre [Seymore] took the victim into the bathroom to go’swimming.’ [Redacted] advised that’swimming’ means ‘drowning,’ and ‘drowning’ means ‘holding the victim’s head underwater,'” the affidavit stated. “While saying this, [redacted] also demonstrated with his hand how Tre held the victim’s head underwater. [Redacted] stated that Tre repeatedly told him to go to his room, but he ignored his instructions and watched Tre drown the victim. As a result, [redacted] claimed he was standing in the bathroom during the incident.”
According to investigators, the defendants frequently discussed putting Anthony in a dog cage as punishment and encouraging the other children in the home to abuse him and lock him inside.
“Alize would instruct [redacted] to lock the victim and the other children in their bedroom. Alize also rewarded [redacted] and [redacted] with food/candy if they beat up the victim at her request.
Furthermore, Tre would target the victim and ‘take him swimming’ as a form of torture and malicious punishment, according to the affidavit. “The investigative findings above, coupled with the concerning observations of neglect noted at the incident location, show the on-going abuse and neglect perpetrated by Tre and Alize; ultimately, leading to the death of the victim.”
