Iowa Mom Gets Life for Slitting Son's Throat

An Iowa mother has been sentenced to life without parole for slitting her 2-year-old son's throat and leaving him to die. Michelle Kehoe, who expressed profound regret in court, also slashed her 7-year-old son's throat before attempting to kill herself. He survived and testified against his mother. A jury rejected her defense of insanity last month and found her guilty of first-degree murder, the Press Citizen reports.

The judge extended a court-ordered ban on Kehoe contacting her surviving son, Sean, against her husband's wishes. "I think that forgiveness is in order for Michelle here. This incident is a result of profound mental illness—something that this system does not seem to recognize," husband Gene Kehoe told the court. “Not only has Sean lost his brother, but he has lost his mother. I have lost my wife and best friend.” The judge denied Kehoe's request to hug his wife one last time before prison.
(More child murder stories.)