A Landrum woman pled guilty Thursday to homicide by child abuse of a five-month-old boy in 2009.

Evelyn Denise Petty, who was 43 at the time of her arrest in September 2009, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Coroners ruled the baby died from shaken baby syndrome.  Petty was babysitting the boy and his four-year-old sister at the time of the death.

Petty is the grandmother of the girl she was babysitting but was not related to the baby boy who died.

According to police reports, Petty called 911, saying she had a baby who was not breathing. The baby was taken to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Officers at the Petty home in Landrum reported that Petty excused herself to the bathroom and locked the door. Officers found Petty taking pills with a bottle of malt liquor, according to police reports. She was taken to the hospital and was treated for an overdose.

While at the hospital, Petty was interviewed by Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Nikki Cantrell, and Petty confessed she had shaken the baby, according to police reports.

Petty told Cantrell she had gotten up at 5 a.m. on Sept. 20, 2009 to find the baby crying. She said she dropped him on the carpeted floor and then shook him to try to revive him.

The autopsy results did not match Petty’s statements, according to Dr. David Wren, who said that the cause of death was shaking alone.

Petty will serve 80 percent of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.