A Montco woman who let her son waste away in her apartment sentenced to decades in prison

A Montgomery County judge sharply rebuked a Dresher woman Monday before sentencing her to 25 to 50 years in state prison in the murder of her son, telling her that she failed in her fundamental duties as a parent by allowing him to waste away to just 59 pounds.

During the hearing before Judge Wendy Rothstein, Sherrilynn Hawkins, 43, wept, calling Tylim Hatchett her “first love” and best friend while pleading guilty to third-degree murder, neglect, and related crimes in his September 2024 death.

She described how the 21-year-old fought all his life to overcome cerebral palsy, blindness and other debilitating medical issues, and required constant care to, among other things, feed himself.

“I made Tylim a promise to keep him safe, and after 21 years, I failed and broke that promise,” Hawkins said. “And I will always be sorry for that.”

Despite Hawkins’ professed remorse, prosecutors said, in the last three weeks of her son’s life, she frequently left him alone in her apartment, sometimes for 24 hours at a time.

All the while, she accepted funding from Aveanna, a home healthcare agency, to work as her son’s primary caregiver. She also included Lorretta Harris, one of her friends, on that payroll to receive a portion of the money to care for him part-time.

In reality, neither woman spent much time with Hatchett and falsified their records with the agency, despite being paid more than $48,000 combined, according to evidence presented in court Monday.

Harris, 49, pleaded guilty to neglect of a care-dependent person earlier this year. Her sentencing is scheduled for December.

In handing down Hawkins’ sentence Monday, Rothstein said Hawkins had betrayed her son’s trust and, even worse, had prioritized scamming Aveanna for financial gain.

“You utilized state funding and let your child die,” she said, telling Hawkins that her conduct was despicable. “And you did all this while driving around in a Mercedes.

“I’d like to say more, but I’m left speechless that a parent could do this.”

Hatchett was found dead Sept. 18, 2024, inside his mother’s apartment at the Residences at the Promenade, according to investigators. Police were called to the apartment by the man’s father. An autopsy found that he was severely malnourished and dehydrated.

Evidence pulled from Hawkins’ phone by detectives showed that in the weeks leading up to her son’s death, she spent the majority of her time with her younger son, whom she brought with her to her boyfriend’s house in Philadelphia, according to the affidavit or probable cause for her arrest.

During this time, she texted Vernon Hatchett, her son’s father, telling him “this might be it” for their son, and later that she would let him know when to make funeral arrangements.

The elder Hatchett, 40, has been charged with neglect, abuse, and conspiracy. However, he has been a fugitive from justice for more than a year and is currently being sought by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Hawkins also lied to concerned family members, saying she had taken her son to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to prosecutors.

But First Assistant District Attorney Ed McCann said Monday that the only time Hawkins sought medical care for her son in 2024 was at the beginning of the year, when he weighed 90 pounds.

Hatchett, McCann said, had lost more than third of his body weight between then and his death and had been “left alone in that apartment to die.”

“It’s horrific. It doesn’t have anything to do with being a parent; it has everything to do with being a human being,” he said. “I think the defendant failed at the fundamentals of being a human being by allowing this to happen.”

Hawkins’ family members and friends took turns Monday imploring Rothstein to be lenient. They told the judge that Hawkins had struggled with fertility issues in her youth and that she had endeavored to keep her son healthy and happy through his many medical issues.

They said that she had frequently asked for assistance in caring for Hatchett and that those pleas had been ignored.

Hawkins’ attorney, Joseph Schultz, said she is a caring and loving mother that had simply become overwhelmed.

“Today, she took responsibility, and she’s going to have to live with this the rest of her life,” Schultz said.