Medical findings of fatal internal trauma became the foundation of an investigation that later expanded to include two accused adults.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — What began as an emergency call for an unresponsive 5-year-old boy became a homicide investigation after an autopsy found deadly internal injuries from blunt-force trauma, setting off a case that now includes murder charges against the child’s mother and her boyfriend.
The medical examiner’s conclusion is the central confirmed finding around which the criminal investigation developed. Newport News police said the child died July 16 after medics responded to a residence in the 300 block of Walden Pond Court, tried to save him and transported him to a hospital. An autopsy conducted afterward determined that internal injuries caused by blunt-force trauma resulted in his death. Police then classified the death as a homicide. The boy’s mother, Katrina Marie Sudberry, 27, was arrested July 17. Gregory Glenn Martin, 30, was charged later after additional evidence placed him in the home and described his alleged role in punishing the child.
Court records provide a more detailed but disturbing account of the medical findings. They describe serious injuries involving multiple organs in the child’s abdomen, including his liver and kidney, along with damage to his stomach, diaphragm and intestines. The records also described extensive bruising, some of which investigators said appeared consistent with physical punishment. Authorities have not released a complete forensic timeline for those injuries, and publicly available records do not establish exactly which act caused each injury. That distinction is important because the criminal case now involves two defendants, while the medical findings describe the child’s condition rather than assigning individual responsibility.
The condition in which officers found the child gave investigators immediate reason to examine what had happened before the 911 call. According to court records, the boy had bruises over much of his body when police arrived. Sudberry was crying in a back bedroom, the documents said. She later told detectives that she had used physical discipline, including her hands and a belt, and that she required the boy to do exercises such as push-ups and wall squats. Police recovered a belt from the residence along with a buckle that had broken away from it. The physical evidence was collected as detectives began comparing Sudberry’s account with the boy’s injuries.
At first, the public account centered largely on Sudberry. She was charged the day after the death with second-degree murder and felony child abuse. Investigators said she acknowledged physically punishing her son in the days before he died. Early reporting based on court documents also said Sudberry described herself as the only person who had been watching and caring for the child during the preceding weeks. That account later became more complicated as investigators obtained communications between Sudberry and Martin and learned more about Martin’s presence in the home. The additional evidence ultimately led police to accuse him in the homicide as well.
Martin’s alleged role emerged most clearly through text messages and information about the morning of July 16. Court records reported by WTKR said Martin lived with Sudberry and had participated in the boy’s punishment. On the day the child died, Sudberry allegedly left the boy alone with Martin for about 45 minutes while she was away. She told investigators that a belt used for discipline was intact before she left but that its buckle was broken when she returned. Authorities have not publicly said that they can determine from the condition of the belt precisely when it broke or what contact caused the damage.
The records also describe exchanges between the two adults well before the fatal emergency. In a July 7 message, Sudberry allegedly told Martin that the boy had acquired additional bruises while older ones were still fading. Martin’s reply discussed whether Sudberry would allow him to continue striking the child as punishment. In another message reported from the documents, Martin said he would stop hitting the boy and would rely instead on exercises. Investigators also said Sudberry sent Martin photographs showing injuries. Those messages provide evidence that the child’s bruising was known to both adults before July 16, although their legal meaning will ultimately be determined through the court process.
By the morning of the child’s death, Sudberry told investigators, the boy was showing physical symptoms. She said he had vomited and appeared lethargic. According to the records, she said she monitored him while he stayed in bed and she performed household tasks. At some point she later found him unresponsive on the floor. Rather than immediately calling emergency services, the documents said, she first contacted her mother, who told her to call 911. Detectives later asked Sudberry why she had not sought medical care sooner. She allegedly told them she “knew how it would look” because of the bruises visible on her son.
That delay is separate from the medical examiner’s determination of cause of death, but it forms part of the chronology investigators have built around the child’s final hours. Police have not publicly specified how much earlier medical intervention might have changed the outcome, and the available records do not support such a conclusion. What they do establish is that Sudberry reported seeing symptoms earlier in the day, that emergency services were eventually called at about 2:19 p.m. and that the child died later that evening despite lifesaving efforts. The next day’s autopsy then supplied the finding that turned police attention toward a homicide.
An outside observation from the day before the death adds another piece to the timeline without resolving what happened inside the home. Neighbor Elena Sierson told WAVY that she saw Sudberry and the boy near the apartment complex while Sierson was bringing her own children to a vehicle. She said the children tried to speak to the boy and described Sudberry as forcefully dragging or pulling him toward a car. The account is notable because it places a witness with the child shortly before his death, but Sierson did not claim to have seen the acts that authorities allege caused the fatal internal trauma.
After Martin was charged, the case contained two overlapping but distinct tracks of evidence. Medical records describe the injuries and cause of death. Police interviews address Sudberry’s admissions about punishment, her description of the boy’s symptoms and her account of the final day. Text messages allegedly show that both adults discussed physical discipline and bruising. The belt and broken buckle provide physical evidence from the residence, while Martin’s reported period alone with the child gives investigators another point in the chronology. None of those categories alone substitutes for a court determination about who is legally responsible for the death.
Martin faces second-degree murder and child abuse or neglect causing serious injury, as well as a separate charge involving sex-offender registry information. Sudberry faces second-degree murder and felony child abuse. Police have not publicly announced a finding that allocates particular injuries between the defendants. The available reports also do not identify a defense explanation responding in detail to the prosecution allegations. As in any pending criminal case, the filing of charges establishes what authorities allege, not guilt.
The defendants were being held in the Newport News Jail in the most recent reporting reviewed. Their next scheduled court appearances were Sept. 9. Until then, the medical examiner’s conclusion remains the fixed point in a still-developing case: the child died from internal injuries caused by blunt-force trauma, while prosecutors and investigators must establish in court how the evidence surrounding those injuries applies to each person charged.
Author note: Last updated August 24, 2026.