LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - Prosecutors say a 24-year-old Lafayette woman who failed to stop her boyfriend from beating her 3-year-old son for months before he died has pleaded guilty to cruelty in the death of Julian Madera.
The Advocate reports (https://bit.ly/1vxOOdD) Laura D. Smith pleaded guilty Monday before District Judge Glennon Everett to one count of cruelty to a juvenile.
Smith’s attorney, Randal McCann, said Everett ordered a presentencing report and would sentence Smith later this year.
According to Louisiana sentencing laws, the cruelty conviction carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison at hard labor. It is possible Smith’s sentence will be less severe in exchange for her cooperation in the death-penalty prosecution of her former boyfriend, Landon Broussard.
In March 2013, a grand jury charged Broussard with first-degree murder.
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Information from: The Advocate, https://theadvocate.com
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