St. Joseph, Mo. ? A judge told a Cameron woman she had failed as a mother when he sentenced her to life in prison for not protecting her toddler from a fatal beating.

Buchanan County Circuit Judge Patrick Robb also criticized Brandy Burrell on Friday for failing to immediately seek medial help for Isaiah Washington Jr. after the child’s father kicked the 2-year-old in the ribs and stomach. The toddler was declared dead last October when he arrived at Cameron Community Hospital hours after the beating.

“In our society, a mother’s No. 1 responsibility is to care for her child,” Robb said. “You did nothing before, nothing after.”

Burrell was convicted in August of second-degree murder and first-degree endangering the life of her child.

The child’s father, Isaiah Washington Sr., 19, was convicted last month of second-degree murder in the death of his son. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 4.

Burrell could be eligible for parole after serving 25 years of her life sentence, said Missouri Department of Corrections spokesman Tim Kniest.

Laura Donaldson, an assistant prosecuting attorney, said that the pathology report indicated that when the toddler was fatally beaten he was recovering from similar injuries, also inflicted by his father.

Burrell also previously was ordered not to associate with Washington, according to court documents.

“I don’t know who is worse, the father who murders or the mother who stands by and lets it happen,” Donaldson said.

Several other Missouri mothers have been charged this year for failing to protect their children from fatal abuse.

In September, Tammy Yates, 23, of Independence, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her 23-month-old daughter, Alexis Smothers. Prosecutors said she was repeatedly beaten and shaken by Yates’ live-in boyfriend over several months.