A 43-year-old Slidell woman accused of burning, beating and chocking to death her son’s 4-year-old playmate pleaded guilty Thursday to escape the death penalty.

Sharon Sylve, formerly of 39136 Nunez Drive in Slidell, was sentenced to life in prison with hard labor Thursday by state district court Judge Reginald Badeaux for the late 2003 first-degree murder of Troy August Jr.

Sylve and her husband, John Sylve, were arrested in November 2003 after taking care of the boy for his drug-addicted mother, Gifton Stewart of New Orleans, who gave the boy to Sylve’s aunt to look after. The aunt then gave the boy to the Sylve couple, who took him in as a playmate for their son. During that time, August suffered five weeks of severe abuse that included burn marks to his groin, choke marks on his neck, whip marks to his torso and a head injury so harsh that blood pooled in his brain. Roughly 20 percent of the boy’s body suffered from third-degree burns. Scratch marks on the boy’s neck also revealed he had been restrained with a collar that he tried to remove, authorities said at the time.

St. Tammany Parish Coroner Peter Galvin classified the death as the result of battered child syndrome, a death that occurs after such intense abuse forces a child to simply lie down and die.

“This is clearly an example of the most horrific pain and abuse that could be inflicted upon anyone,” Galvin said at the time.

The couple was arrested when John Sylve called 911 after he found the boy unresponsive in the couple’s Slidell home. August was taken to Northshore Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Both Sharon and John Sylve were arrested a day later on Nov. 21, and in April 2004 indicted by a St. Tammany Parish grand jury for first-degree murder, a charge that carries the possibility of a death sentence if convicted.

John Sylve’s first-degree murder trial is scheduled for Sept. 15, District Attorney Walter Reed spokesman Rick Wood said. It’s unclear if prosecutors will seek the death penalty. During interrogation, John Sylve admitted he hit the boy because he was a “tough New Orleans boy,” Sheriff Jack Strain said.