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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 AGREE 100%. SHE'S A PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR A PERSON BUT 99 YEARS?!?!?!? THERE'S A REASON WHY TEXAS SUCKS!! THIS SHOULD BE APPEALED TO THE HIGHEST COURT. I BET SHE WOULD GET A LOT LESS. THEY LET OJ GO FOR HACKING UP TWO PEOPLE AND THEY GIVE THIS WOMAN 99 YEARS?!?!? AI CAVOLT!!!
The sentence is RIDICULOUS!! This is the young woman's first offense. I'm not saying she should get off by no means. The time does not fit the crime. Go figure, it's DALLAS, TEXAS and she's a person of color!! It is what it is. I know, I've lived here all of my life.
Regardless, local law enforcement should have had an eye on her. She fits every criteria for a habitual violent offender. I will not state the reasons because I will be labeled insensitive, but these so called techniques of criminal profiling work.
Breivik got 21 years for murdering 77 people in Norway.
I am going to have to painfully say I agree with you here. What this woman did was bad but I do think 99 years is overkill, especially if this woman is a first offender. I would have settled for maybe 4-7 years, with a chance of parole after 3 or 4. This sentence is a joke.
It's tragic she had 5 kids by the age of 21, probably all by different fathers and had no help and no idea how to care for them properly. It's no wonder this occurred. That being said, she should be sterilized.
Truly amazing malevolent females like her are able to have successful pregnancies and have more than one child ~ when there are so many good and decent couples out there who would love to be able to just have the one but can't. Well, I guess there may be a silver lining in this after all ~ perhaps those children born to her will be placed in permanent and loving homes away from this evil witch who doesn't pass the smell test even for being a 'bad mother'.
Agreed. Great post.
Anyone who takes up for or sympathizes with this perp is a sad sick person.
I want to glue her hands to the wall ... Uneducated , Sadistic, Coward.. picking on a 2 year old, come up north to Canada, show you what we can do with the ol' hockey stick while you are glued to the wall.
You should practice those hockey puck skills by smashing some of the degenerates in Quebec!
Wow. If this mom was in Florida the corrupt criminal enterprise called, "Family court" would have granted her primary residential custody rights... and sent the loving father for a "psych eval" IF he dared object. TRUE STORY.
Hopefully other residents in the prison who miss and love their childrenn will give this monster the justice the legal system did not. Will CNN have the guts to report it?
It makes you look kinda dumb to tell what would happen and call it a true story.
This woman is an abomination..... an absolute animal....and child protection gave these children to the gramma? GREAT she did such a swell job with their mother....... amazing..... but then again...who's gonna take on 5 kids, maybe punishment for gramma, she's probably tired of raising kids.....she has to take them all on til she gets it right..... *sigh* poor kiddos.....
Where does it say she's an immigrant, you racist?
Must bother you she's an American.
While I believe the sentance is excessive for sure. I read the story and it said she was investigated before by protective services. It doesn't say for what. Neglect,child abuse. fraud. so that part is unknown. I have twin girls two and a half years old that are in the same stage as this little girl. While it can be frustrating, it is part of the process of raising children. I can't imagine glueing my childs hands to a wall and beating her into a coma. She needs to stay behind bars until her children are all grown. No less than twenty years. I believe this story could have had a much worse ending for this poor child. I do agree with the judge, She is sorry for herself, not the child.
In-depth if the animal species would keep their legs closed as they where thought from the beginning , and show some self control this would happen a lot less!