Acton Mother Sentenced to Prison In Death of Young Son

A 26-year-old Acton mother pleaded guilty on Feb. 28 to involuntary manslaughter in the death of her young son in 2010, according to the Boston Globe. 

A Middlesex Superior Court judge sentenced Christina Hancock to 8 – 10 years in jail, according to the Globe. Hancock changed her plea during the Feb. 28 hearing after previously claiming her 13-month old son died accidentally, according to the Globe.

The plea comes after a recent hearing during which attorneys on both sides of the case discussed a possible deal.

Hancock was originally charged with first-degree murder, which carries a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole, but the guilty plea allowed her to avoid the murder charge, according to the Globe.

Hancock pleaded not guilty in August 2010 to charges that she attacked her son, Kadyn, on May 12, 2010, according to the Globe. Prosecutors said Hancock called 911 at around 4:30 a.m. and said Kadyn had fallen out of his crib and struck his head. The child was later pronounced dead at Emerson Hospital in Concord.

A medical examiner ruled the child’s cause of death as “blunt force trauma to the torso,” according to the Globe. The child sustained injuries to his stomach, colon, lung and liver, but some of those had existed prior to Kadyn’s death, according to the Globe. The prior injuries suggested Hancock had previously beat Kadyn, according to the Globe.

During the hearing, Hancock revealed she had battled bipolar disorder since she was 13, but that the symptoms had stopped at age 18, according to the Globe. Hancock’s attorney told the court Hancock had a rough childhood and was the victim of sexual assaults, according to WCVB-TV.