Matthew Penix
St. Tammany News

A Slidell area man was convicted after an hour of jury deliberation Wednesday of burning, beating and eventually killing a 4-year-old boy entrusted in his care five years ago.

John L. Sylve, 58, will be sentenced to life in prison for the second-degree murder of Tory August Jr., a boy Sylve and his wife Sharon Sylve took in as a playmate for their eight-year old son in 2003. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence. Last month, Sharon Sylve, 43, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder to escape the possibility of a death sentence if convicted, District Attorney Walter Reed spokesman Rick Wood said.

The couple had only cared for the boy for five weeks before he curled up and died, the result of battered child syndrome, St. Tammany Parish Coroner Peter Galvin said. The couple earned legal custody of August on Oct.15, 2003, just days before his 4th birthday.

The case unfolded when John Sylve called 911 after he found August unresponsive in the couple’s Slidell-area home on Nunez Drive. August was taken to Northshore Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Third-degree burn marks were discovered on 20 percent of his body, mostly on his buttocks, legs and groin.

Ligature marks on his neck also revealed he was restrained with a collar he tried to remove. And repeated blows to the head caused blood to pool inside his brain, authorities said.

At the time of the death Galvin called the death a clear example of “the most horrific pain and abuse that could be inflicted upon anyone.”

During interrogation, John Sylve admitted he hit the boy because he was a “tough New Orleans boy,” Sheriff Jack Strain said.

The Sylves took in the boy when his drug addicted mother, Gifton Stewart of New Orleans, gave August to a Sylve family member to care for. The aunt then gave August to the Sylve couple.