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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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Maybe people like her should be sentenced to having their tubes tied also.
shame on you if your life is spoil then u have no right to spoil a kid's life. pathetic
five kids at age 23 ? she should have been spayed
I agree. But she's mexican. That's what they do: pop out kids like they are animals. Then they don't parent or raise those children well, so the children go into society and behave like animals, and then they pop out kids over and over, and the cycle continues. They make me sick.
23 years old, 5 children and pregnant with a 6th. Who is paying for all these children and the health care costs incurred? Such a sad case and it just keeps repeating all across the U.S. Prayers for this womans poor children.
I hate to see people defending her, just because she's young. That kind of evil is not something that's derived from being naive. This woman is a total sociopath. Her children, and our society, need to be protected from her.
So this Native American Indian woman, who probably speak Spanish due to the White Spaniards conquering her folks over 500 yrs ago, gets 100 yrs. While War Criminals Bush and Cheney who invaded Iraq for not reason at all and in the process killed over 200,000 innocent Iraqi babies, women and men walk free.
23 years old with 5 kids?
.......and pregnant again!
99 years is not a long enough sentence.
99 years is insane. I want to know what made her into this, and how we can help her psychiatrically/psychologically. That's what I want my tax dollars going to – not a bloated prison system.
This judge is unfit to hold position. Clearly a strong personal bias and swayed emotional decision was used to decide a persons fate. How can 99 years be justified? I did not even think a sentence that harsh would have even been available. I reject this judge's decision as cruel.
I hope this women or animal what ever u wanna call her, rotts in jail, she should have got a date with old smokey after doing that to her daughter,
99 problems and my kids potty training problems ain't one
she should have been deported
So Genericman, I notice you reject the judges sentence as cruel, but not the mothers action. You are SICK!
While it is an atrocious crime, a sentence allowing parole after twenty years, if she shows good behavior in jail, would fit the crime. Length of sentences should have the purpose of allowing time for correction – not the purpose of allowing an agree public to vent its rage.
correction ... The length of a sentence should be determined so as to allow time for correction – not for the purpose of allowing an enraged public to vent its wrath.
Some people cannot be corrected. They are mentally defective and will pose a threat to society all their life. This woman is a psychopath and a dangerous one. She should never be set loose on society again.
MEANWHILE CHILD rapist are getting 10 to 20 years
99 years? I cannot think of any country on this Earth that has less faith in a human being.
She already has 5 kids and she is just 23. Want to let her have 10 more and glue them to walls and beat some of them to death?
Mexicans...very typical
MEANWHILE PRIEST CHILD MOLESTER are still walking around and regular citizen child molester are getting 10 to 20 years in prison.
TWO WHITE KID who beat a Mexican to death in Pennsylvania got 9 years each in prison, while this women get 99???/ LMAO
What a crappy justice system.
Don't play the race card. It's not operative here.
This judge obviously abused his power to exert personal revenge instead of justice.
Here we go the race BS again...
I totally agree. See my video on why I think the punishment is way too excessive too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A26pJkfmlAc
Really? Crappy justice system, huh.You think this lady is such a victim. Maybe the judge should have sentenced her to have her hands superglued to a wall while people beat her and kicked her in the groin. Would that have been better? What kind of sick individual are you that you think that severly beating a very small child is OK and should get a slap on the wrist. Hopefully you are sterile and cannot reproduce!
Possibly had a prior criminal background...
I agree with you completely about the sentenced she received. I do not believe she receive any leniency from the courts. She got was she deserved. Although there are MANY cases that have been under-sentenced. ACTUAL murderers who walk after just years of prison. Our Justice system is way out of shape. This lady needs a doctor and her children need a loving family. and @ sumbtc i have a big feeling she wont walk early enough to pop out 10 more kids.. so relax. smh
Too bad she didn't superglue her legs closed. 5 kids at 23? How many different daddies?
You took the words riigjt out of my mouth. All these people that breed but don't parent need to leave the planet.
that would work better than aspirin, and she wouldn't even need contraceptives, so the Republicans wouldn't have a problem with it.
The women should never be able to walk free again. It takes a monster to do something like this, not a person who is upset. She can't be helped or made better. She is a psychopath and society needs to be protected from her.
Is that your professional opinion?
Get real. This person is not a threat to society. She's a threat to her children. Yes, she's unfit. Yes, her children should be removed from her care. But to warehouse her for the rest of her life to the tune of $40K plus a year of taxpayer dollars? Are you crazy? My God! Her kids will be adults in 16 years. And as for being beat into a coma, I fell off my bike when I was a kid and was in a temporary coma. That could happen from a blow to the head that was not very serious at all. This punishment might be warranted if she had killed the child. As is, it's far in excess of what is reasonable.