A Kansas mother whose 2-year-old son fatally shot his 4-year-old sister has been sentenced to life in prison. The AP reports Mariann Belair, 24, won't be eligible for parole until she's served 25 years under the sentence imposed Tuesday in Shawnee County District Court. Jurors found her guilty in May of aggravated child endangerment and first-degree murder in the commission of a felony.
Belair testified at her trial that she removed a loaded 9mm handgun from her diaper bag and placed it on the couch next to her in October while she was home with her 4-year-old daughter, Lawrencia Perez-Belair, and her 2-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter. She said she had planned to go get food with her family and was making sure she had everything she needed in the bag. She said Lawrencia then "distracted" her by asking her to shoot a cellphone photo of them together.
Deputy District Attorney Lauren Amrein told jurors that the gun sat on the couch at least 12 minutes before Belair's son, who was about to turn 3, picked it up and shot his sister. She said no reasonable person would have let the gun sit there so long with small children present. Court records show Belair complained in a handwritten motion that her trial attorney discouraged her from taking a plea that would have resulted in her being sentenced to 10 years and three months in prison. A new attorney assigned to the case has requested a new trial.
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