Central Texas woman convicted of killing foster child dies in prison

Sherill Ann Small, 57, of Rockdale, who was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the beating death of her 2-year-old foster child, has died in prison.

Small, who was held at the Young Unit in Dickinson, died Thursday of natural causes, Milam County District Attorney Bill Torrey said in a brief press release.

Small was convicted in November 2014 in the beating death of Alexandria Hill who was found unconscious on July 13, 2013 and was automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A state appeals court affirmed the conviction in May.

The 2-year-old died in August 2013 at McLane Children's Hospital in Temple after she was taken off life support.

Doctors found that the toddler had "subdural hemorrhaging, subarachnoid hemorrhaging, and retinal hemorrhaging in both eyes," an arrest warrant affidavit said.

An arrest affidavit issued at the time said Small, "became frustrated with Alexandria, picked her up, and in a downward motion with a lot of force came down toward the ground with her."

"She did this twice and on the third time she lost her grip and the victim was thrown to the ground head first," the affidavit said.

“Small lived longer as a convicted murderer than Alex Hill lived her entire life,” Torrey said Friday.