A US judge has sentenced the mother
of an autistic Michigan teenager to 10-22 years in prison for what the
woman described as a failed murder-suicide attempt brought on by despair
after years of violent attacks by her child and failure to find
affordable and effective treatment.
KELLI Rai Stapleton, 46, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree
child abuse in a bargain with prosecutors who dismissed an attempted
murder charge.
She admitted driving her daughter Isabelle to an isolated spot in rural
northern Michigan in September 2013, giving her a sleep-inducing drug
and placing two charcoal-burning grills inside their van.
Both
survived, although Isabelle, now 15, was in a coma for four days and
suffered brain damage. Although largely recovered, she still has memory
loss and problems with balance. Circuit Judge James Batzer
ordered Stapleton to serve a minimum of 10 years before becoming
eligible for parole, though she will get credit for the 399 days she's
already served. He set her maximum sentence at 22 years.
Her body trembling and her voice breaking, Stapleton apologised
repeatedly before her sentencing to her children, her former husband,
her friends and others. Although her lawyer requested probation
and community service, Stapleton herself asked Batzer for a 15-year
sentence - "one year for every year of (Isabelle's) life that I tried to
take". "I will spend each moment of each day in anguish for my
actions and gratitude for the miracle that brought Issy back," Stapleton
said, referring to her daughter by her nickname. "She is not a monster," Stapleton said. "I am. ... I always have and will always love her beyond measure."
Batzer rejected the suggestion that Stapleton had faked her suicide
attempt and simply wanted to be rid of her daughter. He said that
Stapleton might have been mentally ill but noted that she had decided
against going to trial on an insanity defence. "We can have
sympathy," Batzer said. But he described Stapleton's actions as
"profoundly wrong" and deserving of "a severe price". Stapleton
and her former husband, Matthew, a school principal who recently
obtained a divorce, were prominent figures in the adjacent Lake Michigan
communities of Elberta, where they lived, and Frankfort. In addition to
Isabelle, they have another daughter and a son. On Wednesday,
Hodek read aloud a letter from Matthew Stapleton, written on behalf of
him and his children, which said, "We know and understand in our hearts
that she needs help, not an extended amount of jail time." Kelli
Stapleton became well known as an outspoken advocate for autism
awareness and blogged about the challenges of finding proper help for
Isabelle. Stapleton wrote in the summer of 2013 that she was
"suffering from a severe case of battle fatigue" after the family's
insurance company stopped paying for a treatment program and local
officials changed Isabelle's education plan. She later told authorities she had concluded the best solution would be if she and her daughter "went to heaven"
Source: News.com.au
