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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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And we let murderers out after 25 years for good behavior. Punishment needs to fit the crime people. This does not.
Only in America. A country that circulates death around the world and drones innocent civilians on a weekly basis deems it necessary to jail one of it's own citizens for 99 years for something that left no permanent physical injury on a child is just ludicrous. No wonder they can't afford health care for the poor, they spend all their resources on jails and police officers. This wouldn't happen anywhere other than the US. I sentence of 3 years would have been suffice. People make mistakes and that is what happened here. This is nothing more than an elected judge pandering to the electorate. Ridiculous I say just ridiculous.
You are one sick human being, and obviously (I hope to God) not a parent. I think that severe brain damage, not to mention the psychological damage done to this child warrants more than THREE years. You are absolutely insane and perhaps one day you'll be locked up for 99 years if you see this as a severe punishment for that monster of a mother.
I agree. The sentence is ridiculous. She definitely was at fault but the sentence is definitely cruel and unusual. It's nothing more than a publicity stunt (probably focused on the election) but this sentence for sure will be overturned by a higher judge since it doesn't fit the crime.
Zaperdon, I hope you don't have children; I really do. Anyone who thinks 3 years in prison is sufficient for a monster who beat their own child into a coma isn't fit to raise kids. And by the way, I sense a tremendous amount of jealousy in your post that you can't benefit from living in the greatest country in the world. If you're an American living in this country, then I sincerely hope you pack your bags post haste and leave on the next plane out.
why don't you just leave. Obviously, you don't like America. Go away.
"Severe brain damage" doesn't sound at least somewhat permanent to you? Let's not even get into the years of therapy this child may need now...
No time in prison for "Mommie Dearest", just a day or so in a locked room with me. She's 23 years old and how many kids am I supporting?
Not only are you a monster, you are a moron who cannot read as well. Did you read the part about brain injury. If anyone has a spare cattle prod please shove it up this monster's ass. I trust after the doctor treats him there will be no permanent injury to him and he will forgive you.
so if someone does something like this to YOU you would be okay with letting them off easy?......You sound like a person of little intelligenge and double standards..loser..
She would have got less time for raping and murdering the child. This sentence is an outrage. What is wrong with US judges and the US system.
In other countries they get their head chopped off for adultery.
@marti ....How do you think this stupid banger mother got her child rearing skills? Pregnant at 16 and practically every year since. Sure she deserves jail time....but she probably deserves a little education too. The Kids were given to her mother who no doubt raised this ignorant so-called monster . And the circle of evil is unbroken! No one wins and the kids will eventually wind up in foster care too old for adoption!
99 years is preposterous. She neither deserves that length, nor do taxpayers deserve that burden.
Oh, and who do you think is footing the medical bills for her child. And who is footing the bills for ALL her children? That will go way beyond what it cost to imprison her for 99 years. Don't sweat it. She'll be out in 30. And that's fair. At least she'll be past child-bearing age.
The tax payers are already paying for her and her 5 kids now. At least the taxpayiers will not have to pay for her beating anymore of her kids into a coma
Since I live in the city where this happened, and heard about all this woman did to that baby, I'm more than happy to pay for her to either be executed, or sit in prison. By the way, I have health care too! She had a chance at 45 years, but chose to roll the dice and got 99 instead. Now she won't have the chance to hurt any more kids, and we don't have to worry about her failure to keep her legs closed anymore. Based on the daily news accounting of the sentencing, I don't think a higher court is going to shorten the sentence. I'm a social liberal, and fiscal conservative, but I don't care what any one says, beating a 2 year old in to a coma should warrant a death sentence.
she deserves what she did to her child. i will be glad to administer it to her. or a .40 cal bullet.
This child wasn't even two years old yet. She was glued to the wall which means she had no way of escaping or getting help from anyone. This mother could have killed her if she felt like it. 99 years is not excessive because this was an excessive beating that should be charged under attempted murder. A child this size can't take the abuse an adult can, and she is lucky to have survived. She needs to be in prison that long so that for the rest of her life she cannot do the same thing to any of her other children. There is no reason this welfare baby machine should be on the streets raising children.
A well deserved punishment.
Agreed!
If you think the grandmother has not seen this girl bruised before this incident I have a bridge to sell you! The abuse didn't just start here. The grandmother is the last person that the children should have been placed with.
I couldn't agree with you more. Why do you think this 23 year old is such a sadist? She had to have been abused when she was a child. I think those poor kids have a better chance in foster care than with the grandmother.
Just kill her. Nobody like this should even be allowed to live. If we just killed off more prisoners it would be easier because then we dont have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep them alive in a jail cell. People like this have absolutely no benefit to society.
I agree, even better, put her in a max security MEN'S prison for life. I think the guards might just look the other way. Even that would not be enough.
I don't understand how anyone can defend what this woman has done to her own child. I don't feel sorry for her at all.
Maybe she will get beaten in jail – we can only hope
Five children and 23 years old? Something's seriously wrong with that family. Where is/are the father/s of those children?
I wonder which is cheaper: tax payers paying for 30 years to life of her being in jail, or tax payers paying for the welfare of a 6th, 7th, 8th, or more children that she would pump out.
This was a terrible act, but 99 years is insane.
Are you kidding me!? All of you morons who think this is too much time deserve a swift kick in the butt! FINALLY someone cares about the children of our country and justice has been served! Oh and I agree, our country can learn a lot from Texas and the justice system! People are crazy and deserve to be punished! Children are a blessing from the Lord and deserve to be taken care of and loved as if our lives depended on it.
This is just a sad story for everyone. The so-called Mother has ruined her life. We can only try to save the kids
The so-called Mother has ruined her life. We can only try to save the kids
How anyone could do something like this to another person let alone a baby. 99 years is lenient, should have gotten death penalty. One less monster on this planet.
It costs an average of about $47,000 per year to incarcerate an inmate in prison in California. Lets assume it's the same in Texas. 99 times 47K is over $4.6 million dollars of tax.
Average annual cost in Texas is roughly $18,000. We don't believe in luxury suites for prisoners in Texas. Since she's a welfare recipient, tax payers would be footing the bill for her even if she wasn't in prison. This way she can't add any more kids to the system, so in the long run, the state's probably saving money by locking her up.
Your a poor excuse for a Mother and how could you have done this to this innocent little Angel? You will get what you have coming to you in prison...others in prison do NOT like baby killers. Hopefully someone will torture you the way you tortured this innocent little Girl. You should feel so ashamed, this is not a Mother, this is a Monster.