Mum Gets 99 Years In Prison For Super- gluing Baby’s Hands

A 23-year-old Texas mum who super-glued her
2-year-old daughter’s hands to the wall and beat
her for not adhering to potty training was on
Friday sentenced to 99 years in prison by a court
in Dallas.
Elizabeth Escalona had pleaded guilty to a charge
of first-degree injury to a child. She will be eligible
for parole in 30 years.
After Friday’s judgement, prosecutor Eren Price
who originally offered Escalona a plea deal for 45
years, had argued that she now thought the 23-
year-old mother deserved life.
State District Judge Larry Mitchell pronounced the
sentence at the end of a five-day hearing.
“On Sept. 7, 2011, you savagely beat your child to
the edge of death,” Mitchell said. “For this you
must be punished.”
The beating had left 2-year-old Jocelyn Cedillo in
a coma for a couple of days, with her other
children telling authorities their mother attacked
Jocelyn due to potty training problems. Police say
she kicked her daughter in the stomach, beat her
with a milk jug, then stuck her hands to an
apartment wall with an adhesive commonly
known as Super Glue.
As a result, Jocelyn suffered bleeding in her
brain, a fractured rib, multiple bruises and bite
marks, a doctor testified. Some skin had been
torn off her hands, where doctors also found
glue residue and white paint chips from the
apartment wall.
Defense attorney Angie N’Duka said afterwards
that the sentence was “way too harsh” and
suggested the widespread attention her client’s
case had received contributed to the sentence.
“It’s a lot of pressure, a lot of pressure on the
parties,” N’Duka said.
Reacting to that, prosecutor Eren Price said
maybe she could have escaped with 45 years had
she taken the deal she offered, but her rejection
of deal gave way to more evidence.
“We feel like the judge listened very carefully to a
very difficult week of testimony, and we feel like
he did exactly what the evidence called for,” Price
said.
“The 45-year recommendation was for
somebody who was going to take ownership of
what she did, appreciate what she caused,” Price
said.
Sending her to prison for decades would protect
her children’s future, Price argued.
“You can give Jocelyn and her brothers and sister
peace,” she said. “You can give them peace, so
that when they’re sitting around the dinner table
at Thanksgiving with their big family, they’re not
worried that their mother is going to come
walking through the door.”
Escalona ’s five children, including Jocelyn and a
baby born after the attack, are in the care of their
grandmother, Ofeila Escalona .