Woman gets 3 years for injuring infant
A teen who critically injured her 5-week-old son last year will serve three years in prison while her mother will spend three years on probation for not seeking medical attention for the child.
The defendant, Anias Ramirez, who was 17 at the time of the crime but was transferred to adult court to face the charges, was given the three-year sentence by Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley Wednesday following a hearing on the charge of reckless aggravated assault.
Her mother, Ivallessee Rodriguez, 35, was given a three-year probationary sentence on the charge of child neglect after she entered a plea Wednesday to the reduced charge.
The sentences come after Ramirez’s toddler suffered severe head injuries from abuse at her hands. During trial, prosecutors revealed Ramirez shook the baby and then tossed him onto a bed, causing the child’s head to snap back and causing severe brain injuries. The child, who is expected to suffer from the injuries for the rest of his life, has since been removed from her custody.
Rodriguez, who was a nurse’s aid, was charged for not seeking treatment after the child was left in her care by Ramirez shortly after the incident. Prosecutors maintained that Rodriguez, as a medical professional, should have realized the baby had sustained severe head injuries and sought immediate medical attention.
Ramirez, now 18, will serve her sentence at the state penitentiary. However, given the 14 months she has already served on the three-year term, she could be eligible for early release through probation almost immediately. It will be up to a parole board to determine how much of the sentence Ramirez serves.
As for her mother, District Attorney General Dale Potter said a plea agreement was offered to Rodriguez given Ramirez’s conviction on the lesser count of aggravated assault.
“We didn’t feel it would be right for the mother to serve more time than the daughter given their roles in this,” Potter said. “The daughter was convicted on a lesser offense so a plea agreement was offered to Mrs. Rodriguez since the most her daughter could have faced would have been four years.”