HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Alexis Raiford, the woman charged with the April 2015 murder of three-year–old Zyon Thompson, has entered an Alford Plea to both Murder and Child Abuse charges.
An Alford Plea means Raiford understood there was enough evidence to convict her of the crime, however she did not admit guilt.
Raiford’s sentencing was scheduled for July 14.
Her plea came on the second day of her trial in Henrico County Court.
Raiford, and two other men, were left responsible for Zyon at their Oakleys Lane apartment while the child’s mother went to work.
Alexis Denise Raiford, William Cory Moore and Clarence Raiford Jr. (PHOTO: Henrico Police)
While in their care, Zyon was forced to eat crab seasoning and had been subjected to other abuse, including torture and beatings.
In a jailhouse interview, shortly after her arrest, Raiford she did not hurt Zyon. She said he got into the crab seasoning by accident.
“I am not responsible for Zyon’s death,” Alexis Raiford said in a June jailhouse interview. “I loved Zyon like he was my own child, I promise you that.”
Clarence Raiford Jr. and William Corey Moore, the other two charged in the case, were convicted in December.
Moore, 25, pleaded guilty to felony murder and child abuse causing serious injury.
Raiford Jr., 35, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony child abuse causing serious injury and one count of conspiracy to commit felony child abuse causing serious injury. He also entered an Alford plea to felony murder.
Both men are scheduled for sentencing next month.
