Pictured is four-year-old greater Cleveland murder victim Aniya Day-Garrett

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CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio- The mother of four-year-old Aniya Day- Garrett and the mother's boyfriend, both found guilty  earlier this month of aggravated murder and other charges, a celebrated case of child murder that has gained nationwide attention and has rocked the largely Black major American city of Cleveland, were both sentenced to life in prison by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCormick on Wednesday.

The death penalty was not on the table.

The child's mother, Sierra Day, 24, and  her live-in boyfriend, Deonte Lewis, 27, were both found guilty of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, permitting child abuse, endangering children and tampering with evidence.

Day  was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, and Lewis will be eligible for parole after 24-years in prison.

Speaking before a packed courtroom, McCormick called the death "a committed form of torture."

Community activists remain upset with the system over the Black child's murder.

"Surely the individuals involved, the mom and the boyfriend, who were both convicted, got a lot of time because in normal circumstances parents are supposed to protect their children," said Black on Black Crime Inc. founder and longtime community activist Art McKoy. "However, when parenting falls between the cracks as has happened in this case, Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services, who dropped the ball along with county officials, including County Executive Armond Budish, must be held accountable."

Cleveland activist Kathy Wray Coleman, organizer of Women's March Cleveland and International Women's Day March Cleveland, and who leads the Cleveland-based Imperial Women Coalition, said "its time for local, county and state policy makers, Black leaders and others to seriously address this obvious epidemic of violence against Black women and children of greater Cleveland."

Lewis' family broke into tears after the verdict by a 12-member  Cuyahoga County jury that deliberated for a day was read in open court earlier this month

Neither Day, nor Lewis, took the stand during the five-day trial.

Their attorneys said at trial that there was no direct evidence that  links their clients to the crime and that neither delivered the alleged blow that allegedly killed the innocent child.

Prosecutors relied primarily on testimony from first responders, including police.

Cuyahoga County Job and Family services social worker Lorra Greene testified and said Day was a good mother at first, but lost her way after she began dating Lewis.

Assistant County Prosecutor Anna Faraglia praised the jury verdict and said justice prevailed.  And at trial, she called Day a "master manipulator."

Defense attorneys have not said whether they will appeal, though sources say an appeal is likely, given the severity of the crimes.

Aniya died on March 11 2018 at an area hospital after police were called that day to her mother's home at Cultural Garden Apartments on Lake Shore Boulevard in suburban Euclid, Ohio for a report of an unresponsive child.

The boyfriend lived there too, said prosecutors, a statement  Lewis and his attorneys have denied.

The child was not breathing and had marks on her feet and legs, trial court records reveal.

Led by  Black Lives Matter Cleveland, activists immediately began protesting.

This time last year, community activists, led by the Inner City Republican Movement and Black on Black Crime Inc. camped out overnight  in front of the Jane Edna Hunter Job and Family Services building on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland regarding the death by abuse of four-year old Aniya Day- Garrett and some 44 or more other children since 2015 they say have died via the neglect and malfeasance of Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services and county officials.

Public records reveal that since  2015 more than 44 kids that have come through the office of child and protective services have been murdered and classified as homicide victims among 269 kids.

Most of the murder victims are Black and poor, like Aniya, data show.

David Merriman, a former special assistant to former county executive Ed FitzGerald and a former deputy chief of staff for Health and Human Services under Budish, is the administrator of Job and Family Services for the county.

A Democrat and former Beachwood councilman, state representative and speaker of the Ohio House, Budish assumed office as county executive in 2015.

Budish has said nothing publicly since the verdict.

There have been some improvements or recommendations from Job and Family Services authorities and county officials since Aniya's untimely death last year, including recommendations for more social workers and investigators, and a citizen's advisory board comprised of eight to 10 members of the greater Cleveland community.

Community activists complain the initiatives are minimal, and after the fact.