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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.
On Twitter
Anyone with a tattoo on the neck clearly doesn't have the decision-making ability to be a parent... or a free citizen as far as I'm concerned.
I don't have a tattoo on my neck but I have a one hundred dollar bill tattooed on my junk only because your wife loves to blow money....
No offense, but there's a certain level of stupidity in your comment. I think this woman is horrible, but labeling those with neck tattoos not fit to be free citizens? Nevermind, I meant to be offensive 😉
"as far as i'm concerned," people who judge others ability to parent or be deserving of freedom based on their tattoos... are idiots.
You can't be that intelligent to believe your statement, I'm sorry for those who have to deal with your ignorance.
100% correct
You're right Joe, everyone with tattoos deserves to die a lonely death, because they are inferior humans!
Rudolph....is that you???
Well deserved ,no pity for this waste of air
I think this woman is not redeemable. She beat the 2 year old baby in to a coma, glued her to a wall, and made no effort to save the kid. Grandmother shows up, and takes the kid to the hospital. Instead of feeling remorse for what she did, she gets on facebook and complains about God putting these obstacles in her life. Sentencing for what she plead guilty to could have gone all the way to life, so the judge was within his rights to put this woman away for a minimum of 30 years.
For the people saying that sometimes parents become frustrated and something bad happens to the kid, I agree. Most of those frustrated parents don't lash out so violently, and most exhibit some remorse. This woman had no remorse.
Classy.
I'm all for punishing this woman for abusing her children, but I do believe this sentence is not in line with the sentences handed out to other parents who KILL their children. I recall a case where a woman shook her baby to death. She got 15 years, eligible for parole in 7.
What kind of message does this send to abusers? Beat your kids and get 99 years, or kill your kids and get 15. That's the message.
Justice in this country is so inconsistent. Something needs to be done about it.
Agree completely!
Ah, another bone-headed comment by an uneducated person, suckered by neo-conservative ideology. I bet you think evolution is false, too, huh?
Rot in hell.
A power struggle over potty training?
Really?
This child didn't *defy* her mother, she was learning how to use a toilet instead of a diaper, and it wasn't going fast enough to suit "Mommy Dearest"...
Assuming that a two-year-old child has enough critical-thinking skills to even be *cognizant* of "defying" her mother, and this is a "power struggle" gone awry...puhleeze.
Yeah, you're right, this is a bad place to shill this book.
Clueless.
a ¢35 bullet to the head would solve this problem. put the kid with a good family and you've save that kid's life.
A pastor to make an ugly comment like that is unbelievable. I pray for people like you to find the true God.
199 years would be too short a sentence for someone who would do that to a child.
While I'm the first to agree this women should be punished for doing this to a child, I'm still having a problem with her getting THREE times the sentence that Sandusky, did, a guy who molested dozens of little boys for years, he's going to spend 30 years in jail, this brain dead chick is in for 99, go figure.
I really wouldn't want to be you.
The stupid prosecutor (I guess in Texas that's redundant) pretty much guaranteed the trial and sentence will be thrown out with the "Liar" and "Monster" stunt. No district court, appeals court, or Supreme Court is going to let a defendant (no matter how monstrous) have a big sign over their head telling the jury how horrible they are. That goes against the whole "innocent until proven guilty". You can't degrade or humiliate a defendant during the trial (you can't even do it after they are found guilt- cruel and unusual punishment people). So to the idiot prosecutor- "Good Job!". You just let a horrible, monster go free but at least your "win" record gets a temporary boost and Nancy Grace will sing your praises (as a fellow "forget the law, I want to lynch them even before the trial!" mob-rules advocate).