As reported by the Huffington Post, a woman that suffocated her young son until he died, and prosecutors said wanted to pursue her life while keeping his death undetected, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Texas resident, J.M., 42, told prosecutors that her plan was to take her own life and, as she felt that there was no one else fit to raise her son, C.M., she had to kill him first. Evidence, raised by the prosecution, proved otherwise.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell alleged that, instead, the boy was cumbersome to J.M.’s life.
One such action by J.M. that helped the prosecution’s case was her daily phone calls to the boy’s school – to blame his absence on an appendicitis.
J.M. claimed that she planned on eating castor beans – known for their potentially lethal properties – but Morrell said that J.M. had attempted the exact same method of suicide many years ago. That suicide, obviously a failure, left more questions for the prosecution.
Morrell said, “This case raises more questions than there are answers for.”
At her sentencing J.M. said through tears, “I am very sorry to have caused the intense pain and suffering to my precious son (C.M.). He did nothing whatsoever to deserve that by my hand, and he was not an inconvenience to me. My sorrow is intense and unbearable.”
Julia Nye, J.M.’s defense attorney, said that she and her client entertained the idea of an insanity defense, but that was not what J.M. wanted. Nye said, “She chose to accept responsibility for her actions.”
J.M. pleaded guilty to murder in November. She admitted to kneeling on top of her son, while the boy laid face down, in a Hampton, N.H., motel room. She then proceeded to cover his mouth with her hand, while he struggled against her, until he stopped breathing.
Morrell said that the boy’s lung and the base of his skull were bruised due to the amount of pressure J.M. applied during the incident.
J.M.’s brother, C.H., asked Superior Court Judge Tina Nadeau to allow J.M.’s other son, I.M., “some time with her” – achieved only if the judge would consider shortening J.M.’s jail time. But Nadeau stayed firm on the 45-year prison sentence saying, “There's nothing I can say here today to lessen the devastation.”
C.M.’s body was discovered by L.S., a resident of South Berwick, Maine, as she drove on an isolated road on May 14. A pick up truck was parked, with its doors open, which had a Navy insignia. C.M.’s body was under a green blanket, a further 30 feet from the road.
The description of the truck led a driver to spot the vehicle on May 18 – and J.M. was driving it at the time. When police questioned J.M. she admitted to murdering her son in a hotel room and then leaving his body by the side of a road.
J.M.’s mother, L.R.M., said to the judge, “Life as I knew it ended May 18, 2011. (C.M.’s) life, I believe, was taken in a misguided moment. We will never be whole again.”
Morrell believed that had it not been for L.S.’s discovery “it was highly unlikely he would have been found.”
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