Meet Patricia Corby, 37, of San Diego, California.
Patricia Corby sobs as she pleads guilty to murdering her autistic son.
I know that you can’t see her face, as she kept her face covered during her hearing.
Corby pleaded guilty December 28th, to drowning her 4 year-old autistic son in the tub because she had become too overwhelmed with taking care of him.
The plea closes the case that began on March 31 when Corby of wrapped her son Daniel, in a blanket after drowning him and put him in the back seat of her SUV, then drove to a police station.
She flagged down an officer and told him she had just killed her son. The officer then spotted the body in the blanket in the back seat of her car. The child was wet and water was foaming around his mouth.
The child was not breathing and medics were unable to save him. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
She was later arrested and charged with murder and assault on a child.
Her husband, Duane Corby, was at work at the time of the incident.
He was shocked to learn what his wife had done.
‘I saw real cognitive gains,’ Duane Corby said in San Diego Superior Court in September, according to UTSanDiego.com.
He said the family had moved to a new school district so their son could attend classes that best suited his needs and that Daniel was showing signs of improvement. He had begun to use complete sentences and could identify all the letters in the alphabet.
‘I was more than willing to put everything I had into Daniel’s care,’ he said. But his wife wasn’t satisfied with his progress, he said, adding, ‘She always wanted more.’
During trial, Corby reportedly said she couldn’t handle the stress of caring for Daniel, who was diagnosed with having a high risk for autism when he was just a year old. Walter Escobar, an investigator with the District Attorney’s Office, testified at one of Corby’s hearings that she claimed she had no life because she was dedicated to her child and the family was $70,000 in debt because of caring for her son.
She felt overwhelmed and like she had no time to herself, Escobar said.
4-year-old Daniel Corby, pictured his father, Duane Corby
She has yet to be sentenced, but she may be sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the crime, the North County Times reports.
Autism is a very challenging mental disease for all parties involved.
But most important, the parents and guardians of these children need a support system too.
The stress can be very overwhelming.
Rest In Paradise Daniel.
But I will ask you this:
Read more here.
