California mother who hurled disabled baby son to his death off four-story parking lot in 2011 could get PAROLE after appeals court ruled original sentencing failed to consider her mental illness

A California mother who hurled her disabled son to his death from a four-story parking lot can be released on parole after an appeals court ruled that the original sentencing did not take into account her mental illness.

Sonia Hermosillo, 44, was originally sentenced in August 2021 to 25 years to life in connection with the August 2011 death of her infant son, Noe.

The mother of three was accused of killing her seven-month-old son by throwing him from an Orange County hospital parking garage.

A California 4th District Court of Appeals on Monday upheld Sonia Hermosillo’s murder conviction, but said Judge Kimberly Menninger should have taken into account elements such as mental illness when determining the sentence.

Now three judges are transferring the conviction to a lower court so the judge can reconsider whether the woman’s mental condition should be grounds for a probation sentence instead of life in prison. Orange County Register reported.

Associate Justice William W. Bedsworth said the district court’s role is not to pronounce judgment in a moral sense, but only on the legal issues raised.”

“We conclude that the trial court failed to consider a number of necessary factors at sentencing in determining whether appellant was eligible for probation,” he wrote.

“The stark and paradoxical reality of our justice system is that it is sometimes incapable of delivering a result that feels truly fair to everyone involved,” Bedsworth continued. “This case is a particularly heartbreaking example.”

A jury found then-41-year-old Sonia Hermosillo guilty of one count of first-degree murder and one count of assault on a child resulting in death in the August 2021 sentencing.

Hermosillo has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

“A parent’s most fundamental duty is to protect their children from harm,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said at the 2021 sentencing hearing. “This child didn’t even have a chance to take his first steps, to say his first word or even celebrate his first birthday before he was murdered by the very person whose job was supposed to protect him.”

According to trial testimony, Hermosillo struggled with mental health issues after the birth of her third child, baby Noe, who had been undergoing regular treatments at Orange County Children’s Hospital for several medical conditions, including congenital muscular torticollis that caused his neck to twist. in the womb too long.

“He was sick and his mother didn’t want him,” prosecutor Mena Guirguis told jurors during the trial. “She made a cold-hearted decision to kill her child.”

“All of these factors would likely have weighed in appellant’s favor had they been taken into consideration,” Bedsworth wrote in the ruling.

“Appellant’s own daughter provided a victim impact statement in which she begged the court to have mercy on her mother, saying she did not want to be separated from her, and implying that her mother’s hand ‘changed’ around the time of Noe Jr. birth,” Bedsworth wrote.

On August 22, 2011, Hermosillo took her son to the hospital, even though he had no scheduled appointment that day, and parked her car on the fourth floor of the garage.

Around 6:20 p.m., prosecutors said Hermosillo removed a medical helmet Noe was wearing to correct his plagiocephaly, commonly known as “flat head syndrome,” and pushed him off the roof.

“Hermosillo then walked into the hospital, validated her parking permit and drove away,” the prosecutor said.

A witness who saw the baby fall through the air called 911 and Orange police arrived on the scene. Noe was taken to the University of California Irvine Medical Center Trauma Center in critical condition. He died two days later.

Shortly after the fatal incident, Hermosillo’s husband called police to report that his wife and son were missing.

Noe Medina told investigators that his wife had been diagnosed with depression and was not allowed to be alone with their baby. He said Hermosillo ran off with the child while watching the couple’s two daughters.

Medina, who has forgiven his wife, said she did not accept their son because he was sick.

“She didn’t look at our son normally,” he said of Noe Jr.

Hours later, a police officer spotted Hermosillo driving past the hospital and arrested her.

Hermosillo told police she harbored “hatred, resentment and anger” toward the boy “because he is sick,” authorities said.

Attorney Jacqueline Goodman said the child was actually improving and that Hermosillo was suffering from a psychotic episode at the time of his death, the Orange County Register reported.

During the police interrogation, she repeated “I don’t love him” dozens of times, the lawyer said.

‘That’s not a confession. It is a mental illness,” Goodman said.

The attorney argued at trial that her client suffered from “full-blown psychosis” during interviews with police immediately after the crime, and told investigators that Noe Jr. ‘would always remain a baby’, and even as an adult she should have done so. change his diapers.”

Bedsworth wrote: “It is particularly notable that no member of baby Noe’s family has asked the court to impose a prison sentence. Appellant expressed her sorrow and remorse for her act of infanticide, and begged to be reunited with her daughters.”

“And there was no evidence before the court to indicate that the suspect would be a danger to anyone if he were not in prison. In short, there is simply not enough in the record to indicate that the court properly considered probation as a punishment for appellant’s crime.”