Noelia Ayala of Orange County, who beat her two-year-old stepson into a coma, receives life sentence plus seven years

SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) – A 24-year-old woman was sentenced on Friday to 12 to life plus seven years in prison for beating her two-year-old stepson into a coma that left him paralyzed.

Noelia Ayala of Garden Grove was found guilty on July 11 of attempted torture and assault causing coma or paralysis on a child under the age of eight. Both offenses carried an enhanced sentence of aggravated assault on a child under the age of five.

Ayala has spent 1,077 days behind bars since her arrest.

Co-defendant Alberto Aragon, the boy's 36-year-old father, is awaiting trial on child abuse and endangerment charges, accusing him of delaying medical care, prosecutors said.

According to the Orange County District Attorney's Office, Ayala attacked the toddler to punish the father for being away for long periods of time and talking about his son's mother.

The boy was vomiting blood and temporarily losing consciousness when paramedics were called to his Garden Grove home on Aug. 23, 2019, prosecutors said.

Aragon claimed his son was injured in a fall at a swimming pool, but doctors determined some of the injuries were older and still healing, prosecutors said.

“The image of a 2-year-old's Spider-Man bedsheet being beaten by his stepmother is something you will never let go of,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “This little boy was a happy, healthy 2-year-old until he was left alone in the arms of a sadistic stepmother who used him as a punching bag to take out her anger over the problems in their relationship. The miracle workers at (Orange County Children's Hospital) have saved another defenseless child from death after he was subjected to unspeakable violence by the very people who were supposed to protect these children.

The boy, now seven years old, is paralyzed on the left side and has significant brain damage, prosecutors said.