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Texas mom gets 99 years for gluing toddler to wall, beating her
[Updated at 4:22 p.m. ET] A Texas mother who super-glued her 2-year-old daughter's hands to a wall and beat her over potty training problems was sentenced Friday morning to 99 years in prison, a Dallas County felony records department district clerk said.
Elizabeth Escalona, 23, will be eligible to ask for parole in 30 years. She pleaded guilty in July to a charge of first-degree injury to a child, a crime punishable by anywhere between probation and life in prison.
"This mom was pure evil, and her children are better off without her," prosecutor Eren Price said after a judge delivered Friday's sentence. "Her five kids now have a chance to lead a productive life."
Escalona’s attorney said that the sentence was excessive and that an appeal would be filed, CNN affiliate KTVT reported.
Escalona's daughter Jocelyn Cedillo was less than two months shy of her 3rd birthday in September 2011 when Escalona used a powerful adhesive to glue her hands to a wall and beat her because of potty training troubles, authorities said. Three other children belonging to Escalona, who was pregnant at the time, witnessed the abuse, according to Dallas County district attorney's office spokeswoman Debbie Denmon.
The child urinated on herself during the ordeal, during which she was hit in head and kicked in the groin, among other forms of abuse, Denmon said.
Oefelia Escalona, the defendant's mother, testified during her daughter's sentencing hearing this week that she found the girl and took her to a hospital. Once Jocelyn was there, medical authorities noticed severe bruises to her face and head, as well as a severe brain injury that led to her temporarily being in a coma.
At this week's sentencing hearing, prosecutors showed pictures of Jocelyn's hands and bruised body and forehead.
"The entire picture was very shocking," said Dr. Amy Barton, then a child abuse pediatrician at Children's Medical Center of Dallas, choking back tears on the stand on Monday. "I see a lot of children, and this was one of the most shocking cases that I have seen."
Escalona asked for leniency during her sentencing hearing this week, saying she behaved like a monster but deserved a second chance, KTVT reported. Her mother asked the judge to sentence Elizabeth to probation, according to KTVT.
Price initially offered a plea bargain of 45 years in prison, but Escalona turned it down, the district attorney's office said.
Price said that the judge, after learning more about Escalona during the hearing, was justified in sentencing her to more time.
"Elizabeth Escalona wasn't sorry for what she did to 2-year-old Jocelyn. Elizabeth Escalona felt sorry for herself," Price said. "Those tears on the stand were for her and not for the toddler she tortured."
An attempt to reach Escalona's attorney for comment Friday was not immediately successful.
Before this incident, Escalona had been investigated by Texas Child Protective Services but never arrested or charged, Denmon said.
The child welfare agency put all of her children in foster care after Jocelyn was taken to the hospital. All five of them, including Jocelyn, are now in the custody of their grandmother, Oefelia Escalona.
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I read the monster told the judge she 'is not that same person anymore' (or something to that effect).
Really?!!! Of course you aren't (rolls eyes), LAW ENFORCEMENT has been on your azze since that incident!
Studies show people with hand, neck, or facial tattoos either are or have been involved in some type of criminal activity.
99 years seems far too excessive when weighed with murderers who get 20 to 30 years. She should definitely be punished but 99 years is insane. And for everyone wanting the death penalty you are just are blood thirsty as she is. Lets just kill everyone no matter what their crime is. If you steal a pen , death! Lets just go back to chopping off people's hands for stealing. Give me a break.
Perps who comMitt this type of crime are often repeat offenders. The recidivism rate of child abusers is the highest of any type of criminal.
99 is jsut right
Ya pablo any mistake in your life you should do 30 years too then. Hell we should all just be locked away
She tortured this child and probably would have kept on doing so if not caught. Who knows what else she's done or is capable of doing. Keep her out of society and everyone wins. If it's 99 years, so be it.
5 kids? How was she able to afford 5 kids??? I guess the taxpayers will be footing the bill again!
And now the taxpayers are paying for her stay in prison for the rest of her life ot until parole. This is one of the ways that this country waste its money on low lives like this.
These are the people who are reproducing at an alarming rate rather than the successful people. Kind of frightening to consider the future genetic makeup of the masses.
The same people who comment that she deserved this long stint behind bars, will probably end up there themselves at some point in time. An eye for an eye mentality is going to hurt everyone.
Hopefully, the same people that feel the monster DOESN'T derserve 99 years – won't ever have anything like this happen to any of their children or loved ones.
Are you really that stupid or did you have to work at it? There is EVIL in this world & when found should be eradicated!
Gosh, in the very least, prison will keep her from reproducing. Give the existing kids a break from her and protect the unborn.
Don't the kids have a right to be safe? They are more important. I do think that the 99 years is a waste of money at some point. In 40 years she will be old and not very capable of hurting anyone.
That's a straight opinion coming from the other side of the street. There's a good chance that if your child was abused in this fashion, you'd be agreeing with this sentence. She's eligible for parole after 30 years so for all intense and purposes, most of her life will be over if it's granted. Her abused child will be sentenced to a life of trauma, not just 30 years.
Evil person
I have no idea how you could do something like that to a child let alone her own child. It sickens me. However, 99 years is a ridiculous sentence for something like this
You are so right.....she should have gotten the death penalty.
I say let her out when she is no longer phyically able to hurt children.
What a horrible monster! I'm further disturbed that the children are in the custody of the grandmother, who had a hand in raising her daughter and possibly abused her. This is sick and my heart goes out to the children.
she s very young to have five children..not sure where the father is but the sentence is way too much for what she did when you consider people have gotten far less time for murdering someone. If she snapped I think all parents should recognize when things have gotten too much for them to handle and if they are in danger of harming their child then take the child to someone trustworthy and get away to calm down. It is just so sad for all involved.
Sometimes a beast has to be domesticated....if it means to be taken away her right to exist....! Or better yet...we should just drop her in Afghanistan so she can meet her demons in a society that will really know what to do with that kind of behavior.
I am 34 & live in my parent's basement!
As long as you don't hurt kids, you're Ok in my book.
Cool story bro!
The punishment is excessive. Another example of the lowlife venality of Texas "justice."
10 years of real hard time and no contact thereafter with the children would do the job just fine. It would give her a chance to wake her sorry a** up, get some education, and learn to be a human being.
Those of you who are sanctimoniously cheering this excessive sentence obviously aren't Christians. Jesus is alleged to have said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
Put your rocks down. Some of you sound like the American version of the Taliban.
I agree Texans are crazy. With their mentality everyone would be killed for some reason or another or be in prison for life. If you ever steal something as a kid their would probably just cut your hands off because they think no one can change
You're right. I'm not a christian. If I actually believed in your wonderful god I would hate him for allowing this to happen.
So they gave those kids to person who turned that the miserable excuse for a human that is their mother?????
Makes no sense!!!!!!!!!
Well the daughter could be just psycho. If the grandmother has no history of crime, you can't bipass her.
Some kids just don't turn out right even though they're raised in loving homes. To prejudge the grandmother based on her monster daughter's actions is cruel. Social services, no doubt, did a thorough background check on the grandmother.
With respect to the sentence, good, and let that be a warning to all others mistreating or thinking about mistreating their innocent children.
Right, because Social Services never make mistakes!!!
Children die all the time becaus SS did NOT do their job!!!!
The punishment is excessive. Another example of the lowlife venality of Texas "justice."
10 years of real hard time and no contact thereafter with the children would do the job just fine. It would give her a chance to wake her sorry a** up, get some education, and learn to be a human being.
Those of you who are sanctimoniously cheering this excessive sentence obviously aren't Christians. Jesus is alleged to have said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
Put your rocks down. Some of you sound like the American version of the Taliban.
Yay for Texas!! To bad they can't give her the death penalty. And no I am NOT a Christian!!!!
Maybe you can hire her to babysit!
This is exactly why I believe in sterilization! If she only got 10 years, she'd still be fertile and go on reproducing. No potential children deserve such a "mother".