A Cherokee County man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for abuse of his infant son that led to long-term brain damage, the District Attorney’s Office announced. Anthony Eugene Manzi, 39, of Acworth, pled guilty in a negotiated plea on Feb. 5 to three counts of cruelty to children in the first degree. He was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Jennifer Davis to 20 years with the first 15 years to serve in prison and the remainder on probation. In Georgia, the maximum sentence for first degree cruelty to children is 20 years in prison. According to the district attorney’s office, Manzi admitted to inflicting a traumatic brain injury on his infant son, slapping the child in the face, and failing to promptly seek medical care. The child survived but has physical and intellectual limitations. Charges stem from a Cherokee Sheriff’s Office investigation that began Aug. 15, 2024, after a 5-month-old boy with serious injuries was treated at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital and later transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite. Manzi told detectives that the day before, the boy “would not stop screaming” and looked like he was in pain, and the morning of Aug. 15, 2024,
