Mandy Watson De Garcia sentenced for son abuse
Mandy Watson De Garcia (Omaha Police Department)
A Nebraska judge sentenced a 29-year-old mother to spending up to four decades behind bars in the death of her infant son in 2019.
Douglas County Judge Horacio Wheelock sentenced to between 25 and 40 years for Mandy Watson De Garcia in the death of an eight-month-old baby Leovardo Garciathe Omaha World-Herald report.
In January, De Garcia reached a settlement with prosecutors in which she did not plead guilty to one count of child abuse with willful serious injury. While prosecutors recommended that Judge Wheelock sentence De Garcia to a maximum of 50 years, De Garcia’s public defender is said to be asking for a sentence that includes time served and probation.
In exchange for De Garcia’s decision not to object, prosecutors downgraded the original charge of willful child abuse resulting in death, and the maximum sentence is life in prison.
Judge Wheelock ultimately landed somewhere between the parties’ claims.
“At least this is painful. I will be forever affected by this case and the loss of Leovardo,” Judge Wheelock said during the proceedings on Friday. “Unfortunately no one won today.”
Wheelock, who has been on the bench for seven years, is said to have said it was the most difficult case he has ever chaired.
According to reports, Omaha Police Department officers and emergency medical personnel at around 6 p.m. on August 3, 2019 responded to a 911 call involving an infant in an accident at De Garcia’s home. located near 39th Street and Central. Upon arrival at the scene, first responders reported that the baby was unresponsive.
Paramedics rushed Leovardo to Nebraska Medical Center, where doctors said surgery was performed before placing the child on life support. The child is said to have convulsions, a swollen head and some blood clots in the brain.
“The boy had to undergo cranial surgery, but his head was so swollen that it was impossible to reattach the part of the skull that was removed during the surgery.” World-Herald reported.
Despite the efforts of paramedics, the baby was removed from life support on August 26 and was declared dead.
The day before being taken to the hospital, Leovardo said he had seen a doctor because he had a cough and a fever of 102, but the infant was uninjured.
In an interview with detectives, De Garcia said that on the day he was hospitalized, she picked up Leovardo from his grandmother’s house and drove him home, Kearny Hub report. She said the boy was active for about two hours before getting up on a couch in the living room and falling backwards off the furniture. De Garcia told detectives the baby then “let out a high-pitched whine” and started having seizures. She said she then rushed to a neighbor’s house who called 911.
Doctors told Detective Omaha Stephan Skaar that the alleged fall – about 18 inches – could not have caused the serious injury Leovardo suffered. Instead, the doctors reported that the child’s injuries, including a retinal hemorrhage, could have been the result of non-accidental trauma caused by “a severe shaking.”
According to World-Herald, Nebraska prisoners typically serve only about 50% of their prison sentences. As De Garcia used to be jail For about a year and a half, she was supposed to be “incarcerated for at least 12.5 years” but “must be released after 20 years”.
[image via Omaha Police Department]
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