 Mother who killed tot is sentenced.
Woman suffers from affliction that led her to harm child
An ailing northwest Houston mother who killed her
21-month-old daughter, apparently to get sympathy and attention, was
sentenced to 24 years in prison Thursday.
Yvonne N. Padron, 22, originally charged with capital
murder, accepted a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of
injury to a child.
State District Judge Debbie Mantooth-Stricklin sentenced
her for suffocating her daughter, Jessica, on Oct. 13, 1994.
Padron must serve at least 12 years before being
considered for parole, said prosecutor Jane Waters.
The child was on life support for three months after her
mother put her hands over the girl's mouth.
Waters said Padron suffered from Munchausen's syndrome, a
disorder whose victims require inordinate amounts of attention and sympathy,
mostly from those in the medical profession.
Syndrome sufferers harm themselves or fake illness to seek
treatment and attention.
Others satisfy the disorder by proxy. Usually this occurs
in mothers who injure their children, then wallow in the comfort and
understanding heaped on parents with sick children.
In many cases, the injuries are so aggressive and
frequent, the child dies.
Waters said Padron admitted trying to suffocate her
daughter twice before, including once while the infant was still in the
hospital.
By JENNIFER LIEBRUM
Copyright 1996 Houston Chronicle
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