GUILTY MD - Kayla Thompson, 3, & Ayden Spoon, 1, murdered in Cheverly, 7 Sept 2014

[Aeronomy]

OMG, poor babies.

That mug shot reminds me of Jessica Smith :furious:

Did you mean Susan Smith? (Only asking b/c don't recall a Jessica Smith) She looks like a Susan Smith/Jodi Arias cross to me.

I don't understand why anyone would let a suicidal or even recently suicidal parent anywhere near their young kids. Sometimes it's when a suicidal person seems better that they commit suicide . . . or in this case, filicide. It makes me so sad and so angry.

 

[Rayemonde]

March 2015:

A week before a Maryland mother was arrested after her two toddlers were suffocated to death in September, she told medical professionals and the police that she was planning to hurt her kids. But they never reported the threats to social-service agencies because they didn’t have to.

Now Prince George’s County officials are aiming to close that legal loophole, hoping to prevent similar tragedies in the future...

Sonya Spoon, had been taken to the hospital by police for an emergency psychiatric evaluation at the request of her family. Days later, Spoon was released from a psychiatric hold at the hospital without anyone — hospital staff or law enforcement — having reported the verbal threat she made to local child welfare authorities, officials said. One week later, the children were found dead with plastic bags and duct tape tied around their heads.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...537ea4-ce2d-11e4-8c54-ffb5ba6f2f69_story.html

 

[Rayemonde]

The picture of her smiling isn't her mugshot after all:

CORRECTION: Per the Associated Press, we reported that the picture above was a booking photo of Sonya Katrina Spoon. The picture is actually her driver's license photo.

http://abc7chicago.com/news/woman-smiles-for-mugshot-after-admitting-to-killing-her-children/300110/

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Md. mother admits to killing children; legal loophole exposed

http://wtop.com/maryland/2017/03/md-mother-admits-killing-children-exposes-loophole-law/

A Cheverly mother pleaded guilty to suffocating her own children more than two years ago.

Now, prosecutors are asking that the law in Maryland change so social services is alerted not only when a child is harmed, but also when they are threatened.

“What happened could have been avoided,” said Lester Thompson, a father of one of the children, outside the Prince George’s County District Courthouse.

Moments earlier, Sonya Spoon entered a guilty plea for the second-degree murder of her 1-year-old son, Ayden, and her 3-year-old daughter, Kayla, her child with Thompson.

During the hearing, prosecutors outlined the evidence they would have presented at Spoon’s trial, including the fact that she was hospitalized for threatening to kill Kayla and commit suicide. She was released on Sept. 5, 2014, and emergency dispatchers got the 911 call from Spoon’s mother reporting unresponsive toddlers two days later.

As part of the plea deal struck between both parties, Spoon pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder, one count for each child. The state is asking she serve 70 years with time suspended — so in effect, 45 years in prison. The least the defense could ask for is 35 years.

Spoon’s sentencing is set for June 7.

Mom's guilty plea in children's murder sheds light on legal loophole

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/mom-pleads-guilty-to-suffocating-her-2-kids/422886663

Prince George's County States Attorney Angela Alsobrooks is pushing for a law to require the notification of child protective services and other officials when a child is threatened.

"What the law says now is that if you actually harm the child, that must be reported. But if you threaten to kill or harm a child, there is no legal requirement that that be reported to the Department of Social Services or to our office, to the States's Attorney's Office. We feel this is a gaping loophole that has to be closed," said Alsobrooks.

It's the third year in a row Alsobrooks has pushed for the law. Says says in the past year alone, six children have died from domestic violence in Prince George's County.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Md. mother sentenced to 45 years for toddlers’ killings: ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me’

http://wtop.com/prince-georges-county/2017/06/mental-health-played-large-role-in-sentencing-of-murderous-mother/

Wearing double french braids and using a tissue to wipe away tears, 26-year-old Sonya Spoon spoke in a soft voice before her sentencing by Judge Lawrence V. Hill.

“I apologize to both my children Kayla and Ayden for taking their lives,” Spoon said.

While he acknowledged her remorse and discussions of her mental health came up during the hearing, Hill sentenced Spoon to the maximum possible sentence in her plea deal with the state, setting a sentence of 70 years in prison, with all but 45 suspended. That breaks down to 22 years and six months behind bars for the killing of each child.