WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the horrific abuse and slaying of a 3-year-old boy whose body was found encased in concrete in the laundry room of his home four months after his death.

Stephen Bodine, 41, of Wichita, was convicted Wednesday in the May 2017 death of Evan Brewer. Bodine was also found guilty of child abuse, aggravated child endangerment and two counts of kidnapping. He will be sentenced December 17.

Bodine faces a potential sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years on the murder conviction.

Prosecutors called dozens of witnesses and presented more than 550 pieces of evidence during six days of trial, including parts of the concrete tomb found in the rental home where the boy had lived with his mother, Miranda Miller, and Bodine. Jurors saw videos and photos showing Evan being abused, including footage of him chained and naked in a basement, being berated by Bodine and Miller, and forced to stand in a corner for hours.

Carlo Brewer, Evan’s father, celebrated the verdict but said his joy was tempered by sadness because of the cruelty his son had endured. Brewer had been fighting for custody of Evan in the months leading up to his death, and authorities had been alerted at least six times that Evan was being abused .

“(Evan) didn’t get to have the imagination like other children, where they think there’s monsters in their closets or under their beds,” Brewer said. “He had real monsters.”

Miller is also charged with murder in her son’s death. In exchange for testifying against Bodine, she will be allowed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder.

Much of the evidence at trial came from a cache of 16,000 photos and video files collected by the couple’s home surveillance system. In one video, Bodine and Miller are heard chastising Evan over the course of several hours, less than two months before he was killed.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said the jury performed an extraordinary service to the community for enduring the sometimes grisly testimony.

“I can’t really overstate what a difficult task it was to sit and absorb the kind of wretched details of how this little boy lost his life and the role this defendant had in it,” Bennett said.

Miller testified that Bodine had been punishing Evan for not eating on May 19, 2017, when he took the screaming boy into the bathroom. She said he soon came out with her son’s wet and lifeless body in his arms.

She said during a preliminary hearing that a few days later Bodine told her that he wanted “to take care of Evan before he started to smell.” She said he mixed up several bags of concrete and buried the boy’s body in it.

Evan was discovered entombed in the concrete in early September, after Miller and Bodine had moved out of the property.

An autopsy couldn’t determine the cause and manner of Evan’s death because his body was so badly decomposed by the time he was chipped out of the block of concrete. He had Benadryl in his system, and Miller said she thinks Bodine sickened him in the days leading up to his death by force-feeding him large amounts of salt.

Bodine’s own daughter, Samantha Johnson, also testified about the physical abuse she suffered from her father, saying her experience was similar to Evan’s.

Brewer said he hopes his son’s death will lead to more efforts to confront child abuse.

“Take a step back and question what you’re doing as a parent, question if it’s the right way to discipline or not or if it’s abuse,” Brewer said. “Because it’s got to stop. It’s got to stop.”

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder in the killing of a 3-year-old boy whose body was found encased in concrete in the laundry room of his home four months after his death.

Stephen Bodine, 41, of Wichita, was accused in the May 2017 death of Evan Brewer.

Prosecutors called dozens of witnesses and presented more than 550 pieces of evidence, including parts of the concrete tomb found in the rental home where the boy had lived with his mother, Miranda Miller, and Bodine.

Miller is also charged with murder in her son’s death.

Evan had been subject to a monthslong custody battle and authorities had been alerted at least six times that he was being abused.

Much of the evidence at trial came from a cache of 16,000 photos and video files shot by the couple’s home surveillance system, including images of Evan naked and chained up in the basement. In one video, Bodine and Miller are heard chastising Evan over the course of several hours, less than two months before he was killed.

Miller testified that Bodine took her screaming son into the bathroom on May 19, 2017, and came out with her son’s wet and lifeless body in his arms. Evan was discovered entombed in concrete in September after Miller and Bodine had moved out of the property.

An autopsy couldn’t determine the cause and manner of Evan’s death because of the condition of his body when he was chipped out of the block of concrete. He did have Benadryl in his system, and Miller said she thinks Bodine sickened him in the days leading up to his death by force-feeding him large amounts of salt.

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Jurors deciding the fate of a man accused of killing a 3-year-old boy found encased in concrete were shown photos and video of the child chained up in the basement of his rental home in Kansas.

The judge sent the jury home Tuesday evening without a verdict after deliberations began that afternoon in the first-degree murder trial of 41-year-old Stephen Bodine. He’s accused in the May 2017 death of Evan Brewer.

Prosecutors called dozens of witnesses and presented more than 550 pieces of evidence over six days, including what’s left of the concrete tomb found in the rental home where the boy lived with his mother and Bodine in Wichita.

The defense rested its case without calling witnesses.

Bodine faces charges of child abuse and aggravated child endangerment, along with other crimes related to a threat against the boy’s biological father.

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Both sides have rested in the trial of the Wichita man accused of killing a 3-year-old boy whose body was found encased in concrete.

Forty-one-year-old Stephen Bodine is on trial charged with first-degree murder in the May 19, 2017, death of Evan Brewer. He also faces charges of child abuse, aggravated child endangerment as well as other crimes related to an alleged hatchet threat against the boy’s biological father, Carlo Brewer.

Tuesday marked the sixth day of witness testimony and evidence presentation by prosecutors.

Defense attorney Casey Cotton rested his case without calling anyone to the witness stand.

Jurors watched on Monday photos and video of Evan chained naked in the basement of the rental home where he lived with Miller and Bodine in Wichita.