Mother accused of starving 3 kids gets life term

Submitted by Matt on Sun, 2010-08-01 23:50

Story here. Excerpt:

'DALLAS (AP) — A mother whose three children were found starving after being shut away in a hotel bathroom for as long as nine months was sentenced to life in prison Friday after changing her plea to guilty in the middle of her trial.

Abneris Santiago, 31, had faced between five years and life in prison on a felony charge of injury to a child.

Police rescued Santiago's 11-year-old daughter and 10- and 5-year-old sons from a bathroom at an extended-stay hotel along one of Dallas' busiest freeways in July 2009. The children, whose skeletons were visible beneath their flaky, stretched skin, were near death from chronic starvation. Authorities say the girl was repeatedly sexually assaulted by her mother's boyfriend.

Alfred Santiago was convicted Tuesday of injury to a child and continuous sexual abuse. He was sentenced to two 99-year sentences, to be served concurrently.'

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I wonder if she got life because her children lived. That is, because the jury simply could not turn down their sympathy for the children in favor of the mother and her unspeakable actions.

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Submitted by fondueguy on Mon, 2010-08-02 02:47