Teen sentenced to 30 years for Ill. torture death

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – A judge has sentenced an 18-year-old man to 30 years in prison for the 2008 torture killing of a pregnant, developmentally impaired mother in southwestern Illinois.

Benny Wilson declined to comment during Friday's sentencing hearing in Madison County.

Prosecutors had sought 45 years in prison for Wilson, while his attorney asked for 20 years.

Wilson pleaded guilty in March last year to first-degree murder in the death of 29-year-old Dorothy Dixon.

Investigators say Dixon was five or six months pregnant when she died after weeks of systematic abuse. Police say she was routinely shot with BBs, doused with scalding liquid, and assaulted with a plunger handle and baseball bat.

Her 1-year-old son weighed 15 pounds when taken into state custody after his mom's death.

Five other defendants also pleaded guilty.