Youth gets 18 months' probation in death of infant BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer WOODBRIDGE - The 9-year-old boy who was charged with the death of an 11- month-old Carteret boy at a home-based day-care center in Iselin last August was sentenced last week to 18 months' probation. The juvenile, identified by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office only as "J.L.," pleaded guilty to the juvenile equivalent ofmanslaughter before state Superior Court Judge RogerW. Daley, sitting inNew Brunswick, on Feb. 14, authorities said. The juvenile was originally charged with aggravated manslaughter for causing the death of 11-month-old Tahir Francis on Aug. 23, 2007, authorities said. Middlesex County Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Falzone performed an autopsy onAug. 24, which indicated that the cause of death to the infant was blunt force trauma to the head. During the sentencing, the state argued for a three-year term of incarceration, the maximum allowed under the law for a juvenile. The court sentenced J.L. to 18 months' probation along with the condition that he continues in his current counseling, authorities said. The juvenile and the infant, along with three other children, were under the care of Beverly Bryant, 64, at her residence on Carver Street in Iselin on Aug. 23. Bryant had cared for the 9-year-old boy since he was 2 years old and for Tahir Francis for three months. Bryant had been a licensed day-care provider with the state of New Jersey for 12 years at her home. Her center was last inspected onAug. 7, with minor items that Bryant quickly abated, and the center was up for registration renewal in October. Bryant was indicted on two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, which is a second-degree offense, authorities said. She is awaiting trial. If convicted, she faces a prison term of five to 10 years.