Las Vegas Woman Sentenced Life in Prison for Murdering 5-Year-Old Child While Babysitting

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (702 Times, NV Globe) – The woman convicted of murdering a small child she was babysitting last year was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday.

Lauren Courtney, now 23, will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in October, according to court documents.

Courtney was arrested in March 2021 for the killing of Ryan Peralto, a 5-year-old boy.

According to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police arrest report, Ryan’s father stated that Courtney was watching his two children when she called to inform the 5-year-old “was evidently not doing well and vomited up blood.”

Ryan’s injuries were examined by medical personnel, who discovered a skull fracture, a brain hemorrhage, and a damaged spleen. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force injuries to the head, chest, and abdomen by the Clark County Coroner’s office, and the manner of death was determined to be murder.

According to the complaint, the father stated that he observed Courtney kicking Ryan while watching security footage from inside the residence. Officers watched the footage and showed her kicking, hitting, slapping, and shouting at the 5-year-old.

According to police, the video provides “a horrible description of what visibly occurred with [the youngster] on how he was badly battered throughout a two-minute time span.”

According to the report, Courtney later revealed that she became enraged and shoved Ryan, causing him to smash his head on the floor.

She also claimed that she took him from the restroom to the living room and “popped” his lips with her hand. She admitted to police that she had mental health problems.

Credits: News3LV