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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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This post is for (JAC). An untrained monkey can have an AA in in Indiv Studies. I worked for Tarrant Cty, Fort Worth TX Children's Welfare...and numbers do not lie. You claim you have a child, so you are not in the mix, It is what it is....She deserves the penalty and maybe get spayed at the same time. Is that clear enough for you?
Are you people kidding???? This is an evil person to do this to a child! She deserves worse than 99 years in jail. How could you look into innocent eyes of your own child who depends on you and loves you and do such a thing? A monster. I wish she would have gotten something equally as painful to her as she did to her baby!
she's 23 with 5 children...it would seem she was also a victim of poor parenting earlier in her life
It does not matter if its a child. This is not murder or even manslaugher. 99 years far too much. 7 to 10 years would seem more appropriate.
Funny how @This Guy feels compelled to defend this woman and her punishment every 10 minutes just so he can keep himself on the front page of the comments (professional troll). I look forward to seeing how much he is going to pledge to her legal defense fund to bankroll the appeal since he feels so strongly that we should be kinder to these dysfunctional predators among us. Maybe adopt her five kids? She clearly deserves our kindness.
They're just trollin idiots......you are right on the money. She deserves a lot more than 99 years. These morons don't understand that she was very likely abusing all of her kids and the recovery for this little baby is going to be beyond rough. 99 years is not nearly enough.
99 YEARS?!?!?!
i completely understand how vile the crime was, but 99 years is way beyond too much.
Are you kidding?????? Obviously you are NOT a parent...... This is an innocent 2 year old that had a brain injury and may not ever fully recover!!!!
Yes – I was thinking that 88 years should do the trick!
@the mama
Being a parent doesnt give you the ability to feel compassion for the child. I understand your irrational rush of emotions when connecting this child to your own and the need for vengeance towards the mother.
Rather than think of it as your child...try thinking of your child doing this to your grandchild. Would you feel the same way about the 99 years?
@packman 1001
lol
she deserved the sentence she got for what she did to her child!
@unknown
no she didnt
Its probably in order to keep her from reproducing again.
What do YOU think she deserved????
@Mr Mister
a quarter of that sentence would have been enough IMO.
99 years with her hands glue to the wall and beaten every day. No child deserves a parent like that.
Ok, so I agree with everyone that child abuse is a horrific crime, however, 99 years is not only out of proportion, but is also irresponsible of the judge. In some cases, mass murderers do not get this much time. In addition, all of the posters that say she should be shot, or glued to a wall, or the ones that are making judgements about how many childeren she has should be ashamed of yourselves...exactly who in the h3ll do you think you are to pass judgement on another human being. The anonymity of the internet seems to be working in the favor of those that make assinine posts saying that it is ok to kill someone because they did something that the posters didnt agree with. Maybe all of the SANE people who belives that the sentence should fit the crime will all be on vacation when its time for some of them to be in court!
Not dazzle.
Children learn what they live. Chances are this woman was abused by her own parents and thus this monster was spawned. Too bad all five of these kids are with the grandmother, a woman so horrific in her own right she can't see she created this evil person and begs for PROBATION after witnessing her grand daughter almost murdered. You think if a boyfriend or a stranger did this to the little girl it would be all tears for clemency? Sickening.
I had to listen again, but SHE abused HER mother before!
xactly right, SHE abused her own mother, not the other way around...I think Elizabeth learned it all on her own. Some people are just born evil and this w i t c h is one of them.
If she never sees those kids again, it will be too soon. She was just lucky she did not receive the max.
Didn't get the max!!
You actually think she will live to be 122?
Good to know. 🙂
I hope the little angel makes a complete physical recovery. As for her emotional state, I can only surmise she will encounter her challenges later on in life due to the abuse (many people DO recall events, incidents, etc., from when they were 2 or 3yrs old), including myself.
I hope she is loved and cared for by people (the grandmother?) and she is treated like the innocent angel that she is.
P.S. I hope the angel never sees her battered pictures on the internet. :'(
Eye for an eye. Lets glue her hands and beat the crap out of her!!
The women should be in jail for life she should know better then put her hands on the child
Not banasy ^^^^
past your bed time, girly.
For those that have opined that '99 years' is too much...if she had done this to your child or a loved one (child), would you still feel that 99 years is over the top?
I'm truly interested in reading your response(s).
a rational mind would say no...but emotions typically cloud peoples judgement and force them to irrational reactions.
meant to say a rational mind would say yes...it's too much
I think justice will find her in the Texas prison system
Take her out back and shoot her like a defunct animal.
Let this filthy pig rot in a cell.
This...person deserves every bit of the 99 years she got.
I hope she never sees the outside of a prison cell again.