Pennsylvania mother Sherrilynn Hawkins has been sentenced after the death of her son. She pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including neglect, after her adult son was found unresponsive in her home. The young man was dealing with multiple special needs that made him dependent on his mother. At the time of his death, he had been starving for months. His father, who is also facing charges, has been missing for nearly a year.
On October 20, 2025, Hawkins, 42, pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to the death of her son, 21-year-old Tylim Hatchett. WPVI reported. Hawkins’ charges included third-degree murder, neglect of a dependent care person, theft by deception, and conspiracy to theft by deception. She was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison.
Her defense attorney, Joseph Schultz, told the court that Hawkins had given her son full-time care but then she became overwhelmed, WPVI reported. “Up until the end, she was a great care provider for him, and obviously at the end it became too much for her, and she has now accepted responsibility,” he said.
Assistant District Attorney Ed McCann, however, chose to paint Hawkins in a different light. He argued that Hawkins and Loretta Harris, a home health aide, both took money from a health care company to care for Hatchett but then didn’t provide that care, per WPVI. According to reports, Hatchett had cerebral palsy, was blind, nonverbal, and fully dependent on others for his care.
Hatchett was found unresponsive just before 8 p.m. on September 18, 2024, NBC Philadelphia reported. At the time, police officers said they found the young man “severely emaciated and lying on the floor.” His father, Vernon Hatchett, was on the scene and reportedly called police.
When questioned, he told officers he found his son unresponsive around 6 p.m., nearly two hours before he called for help.
At the time of his death, Hatchett only weighed 59 pounds. An autopsy was conducted, WWNY reported. According to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, his cause of death was complications of cerebral palsy in the setting of neglect. His death was ultimately ruled a homicide. Detectives found that between February 2024 and his death, Hatchett had lost about 31 pounds.
Investigators discovered that Hawkins and Harris would leave him alone for extended periods of time in addition to failing to properly give him his medication and feed him.
“I had hoped that she would come in and make a true expression of remorse for killing this child, for murdering this child, and perhaps give some explanation as to why she did what she did, but we clearly didn’t hear any of that today,” McCann said during sentencing.
Harris previously pleaded guilty to charges of neglect of a care-dependent person and theft by deception, according to WPVI. She is expected to be sentenced in December.
Meanwhile, an active warrant out has been put out for 40-year-old Vernon Hatchett. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele released a new wanted poster, with $7,500 being offered for information about his whereabouts, the district attorney’s office noted in a news release. Anyone who sees him should call 911.
An arrest warrant was issued for him on December 31, 2024, per WPVI. He is wanted on charges including two first-degree felony counts of neglect of care dependent person resulting in death, abuse of care dependent person for whom he is responsible, and conspiracy to commit involuntary manslaughter.
