By: Associated Press//April 20, 2011//
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Milwaukee woman caught on video trying to smother her infant son at a hospital has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Twenty-five-year-old Erika Gutierrez had been charged a year ago with eight counts of child abuse. Four counts were dismissed before she was found guilty after a nonjury trial before a judge this winter.
Judge Jeffrey Wagner found that while Gutierrez suffered from a mental illness, she still had the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions.
According to the complaint, Gutierrez was captured on video recordings in April 2010 pinching the 2-month-old boy’s nose, covering his mouth and unplugging his monitoring sensor.
The Journal Sentinel reports that when questioned by an investigator, she said that depression made her want to harm her son.
Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com