JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville Beach woman who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2020 death of her 3-year-old son was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison.
Court records show Amy Oliver, 48, also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault on a paramedic. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison on that charge. The sentences will run concurrently.
The 40-year sentence was part of Oliver’s plea agreement, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
Oliver was arrested in January 2021 after her son, Henry Prisby, was found unresponsive in a bedroom at a home on Republic Drive in Jacksonville Beach in October 2020. She was later indicted on a first-degree murder charge in June 2021.
Inside the courtroom, Oliver sat silent as several people, including Henry’s father, Chris Prisby, shared their pain.
Chris Prisby referred to Oliver as “the evil person” and said his life will never be the same since his son’s murder.
Henry’s grandmother, Elaine Prisby, spoke in court, saying 40 years isn’t enough.
“But my son was saving himself and others from the horror of the murder trial,” she said. “I hope that no one ever has to go through what our son and we have had to go through.”
Holding Henry’s favorite toys, Chris Prisby cried as he listened to others share their grief about his son’s murder. He’s waited 626 days to see his son’s killer sentenced.
Then, speaking on Henry’s behalf, he said: “Every day my daddy goes to sleep and wakes up without me. I can imagine that feels like getting hit with a 2-by-4. My dad will never hear my voice again. Put yourself in my daddy’s shoes year after year.”
Prisby spoke of a time he and his son shared at the beach, flying a kite and feeding the birds.
But he also spoke about Oliver, who they call “the evil person.”
“Anyone associated with the evil person is dead to me and my dad forever,” Chris Prisby said, again speaking on behalf of his son. “The only time my daddy ever wants to hear from you is when you send a message to my dad that the evil person is dying or dead.”
Oliver’s actions stunned even Judge Mark Borello.
“There is no making sense of or explaining the unexplainable act,” he said in court Friday.
As Oliver was sentenced, Henry Prisby’s family said they will move forward knowing the child’s killer can never harm their family again.
The murder
According to court records, Oliver and Chris Prisby had a 50/50 custody agreement of Henry, and on Oct. 27, 2020, Oliver, came to Chris Prisby’s home in Jacksonville Beach to pick up their son Henry and take him back to her home in Green Cove Springs.
When she arrived, Oliver asked Prisby if she could take a nap with her son before driving home. Prisby agreed, but as time passed, Prisby suspected something was wrong. He told investigators he received several ominous text messages from Oliver, who also had sent several scheduled emails to others about her and her child’s death.
Court records show Oliver had drugged Henry and cut her wrist in an attempt to take her own life.
Prisby called 911 to say Henry was not breathing and he was attempting CPR. The Jacksonville Beach Police Department responded along with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department. First responders found Henry in the bedroom and took him to a hospital, where he died.
Later they found Oliver had locked herself in a bathroom and refused to come out, according to an arrest report.
The arrest report said Prisby forced the door open and JFRD personnel entered and found Oliver holding an uncapped syringe. Oliver then lunged toward a JFRD member in his full uniform, “making a stabbing motion with the syringe,” the report said. Officers said they were eventually able to place Oliver into custody.
The medical examiner ruled the 3-year-old’s death as “drug toxicity” through a lethal level of a medication Oliver was prescribed that she administered to him, prosecutors said.
Court records show Henry was at the center of a custody dispute between his parents.