Mother convicted in toddler’s scalding death gets 11 years
Posted December 7, 2011 12:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A North York woman convicted of manslaughter in the scalding death of her 19-month-old son has been sentenced to 11 years in jail.
Ontario Superior Court Judge Anne Molloy read her decision Wednesday, ordering Melissa Alexander to serve 10 years and three months with credit for pretrial custody.
“We don’t agree with the sentence,” said Catherine Currie, one of Alexander’s lawyers. “The sentence is, in my view, excessive. Melissa Alexander is a first offender. She has no criminal record.”
On Sept. 11, 2007, Alexander’s son Miguel Fernandes was put in a tub of hot water and suffered severe burns to 40 per cent of his body.
Instead of calling for medical help, Alexander treated him with petroleum jelly and cotton pads, left him with his two-year-old brother, and went shopping.
More than 10 hours later, she called 911 to report the baby’s death.
“Really part of the problem was that she thought she could manage things herself,” Currie said. “She grew up in a tough neighbourhood in Toronto, and she really had to rely on herself a lot.”
Currie and her co-counsel have advised Alexander to file an appeal.
