A man who fatally stabbed a 6-year-old boy in front of his older brother in Southwest Baltimore must serve 60 years in prison, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams said he has sentenced a lot of people during his almost 20 years on the bench but remarked that few cases have been as “troubling or heinous.”

Williams then ordered Alan Geslicki, 33, of Morrell Park, to serve life in prison, suspending all but 60 years, for child abuse of a minor under 13 resulting in death. He must also spend five years on probation.

On Jan. 23, 2024, Baltimore Police were called before 9:30 p.m. to a home on Deering Avenue near Maudlin Avenue in Morrell Park, where officers found Seron O’Neal suffering from multiple stab wounds.

First responders took him to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he later died.

Witnesses identified Geslicki as the perpetrator. Police arrested him after a chase several miles away and noticed that his clothes were stained. His hands were also covered in blood.

“The murder of a defenseless child is one of the most horrific crimes imaginable, and there is no justification for such a heinous act,” Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said in a statement. “Today’s sentence reflects this crime’s severity and devastating impact on Seron’s family and our community.”

In a post on X, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott at the time wrote that he was devastated. He called the crime an “absolutely horrific, unthinkable act” and added that “the person who did this deserves every bit of accountability they will face.”

Seron was an honest, fun-loving and curious child, said his father, Antonio O’Neal.

“He was beautiful and innocent,” O’Neal said.

Sade Addison, Seron’s mother, added that her son was bright and full of energy and loved spending time outside riding his bicycle.

She said she misses everything about him. Now, Addison said, she wakes up every day to a nightmare.

Addison urged the judge to hand down the maximum sentence under the plea agreement. She was dating Geslicki at the time of her son’s death.

Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Reinoso noted that Geslicki was a fixture in the household but abused that trust, stabbing the boy 32 times.

“At this point,” Reinoso said, “Mr. Geslicki needs to be locked away as long as possible.”

Reinoso prosecuted the case with Assistant State’s Attorney J. Burke Miller.

But Assistant Public Defender Koryn High, Geslicki’s attorney, spoke about her client’s traumatic upbringing in New Jersey where he was exposed to gang violence and drug dealing.

High said her client’s parents were both deaf and mute. They also ended up incarcerated.

At 13, Geslicki started drinking alcohol, High said. He started using PCP at 14.

In 2020, Geslicki moved to Baltimore to start over. He enrolled in drug treatment and stayed clean for more than two years, High said.

At the time of the killing, Geslicki was intoxicated, she said. He blacked out — and has no memory of the crime.

“He did not hate that little boy,” High said. “He did not hate Seron.”

Geslicki stood while handcuffed and shackled in a yellow jumpsuit and made a brief statement during which he apologized for his actions.

High urged the judge to hand down the lowest possible sentence under the plea agreement: life suspending all but 45 years in prison.

Geslicki, she said, never intended to hurt the child.