TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A 22-year-old Tacoma mother who admitted to killing her toddler has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Melani Lotu as sentenced in Pierce County Superior Court Friday.
She had pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in the September 2008 death of her 13-month-old son, Lorenzo. he died of acute head trauma.
Tacoma’s News Tribune reports that court records show that relatives told police that Lotu flew into a rage and beat him severely that September after the boy vomited on her.
Relatives later took him to the hospital but he died.
Prosecutors first charged her with homicide by abuse, which carries a 20-year-sentence, but later decided they couldn’t prove that charge. ___
Information from: The News Tribune, http://www.thenewstribune.com
