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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Beating girl, gluing hands to wall gets mom 99 years
L.M. OTERO / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES Elizabeth Escalona sits in a courtroom in Dallas. (CP)
DALLAS -- A woman who beat her two-year-old daughter and glued the toddler's hands to a wall was sentenced Friday to 99 years in prison by a judge who described his decision as a necessary punishment for a brutal, shocking attack.
Elizabeth Escalona did not immediately react as Judge Larry Mitchell pronounced the sentence at the end of a five-day hearing. Prosecutor Eren Price, who originally offered Escalona a plea deal for 45 years, had argued she now thought the 23-year-old mother deserved life.
Mitchell said his decision came down to one thing.
"On Sept. 7, 2011, you savagely beat your child to the edge of death," Mitchell said. "For this you must be punished."
The beating left Jocelyn Cedillo in a coma for a couple of days.
Escalona's other children told 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.
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.
Jocelyn has since recovered and is now being cared for by her grandmother, Ofelia Escalona, who is taking care of her daughter's four other children, including a baby born this year.
Escalona pleaded guilty in July to one count of felony injury to a child.
Price said Escalona would be eligible to apply for parole in 30 years.
The prosecutor repeatedly sought to portray Escalona as a liar, a monster and an unfit mother. She forced Escalona Thursday to look at enlarged photos of the bruises her attack left on Jocelyn.
Price argued Friday that if a stranger had beaten Jocelyn the same way, no one would hesitate to give that person life in prison. Escalona had mishandled a "beautiful gift" of a daughter and failed to recognize what she had done, Price argued.
"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.
Defence attorney Angie N'Duka asked for probation or a prison sentence shorter than 10 years. N'Duka argued that her client was a "train wreck" waiting to happen before the attack, the product of a broken home, abuse and a childhood that included illegal drugs and hanging out with gang members.
N'Duka repeated that she did not want to minimize the injuries from the attack.
"They are despicable, but then the question is, 'What is justice for Jocelyn?"' she said.
-- The Associated Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 13, 2012 A24
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