US: Mother sentenced to life in prison for murdering 4-year-old she thought was gay
An Oregon mother has been sentenced to life in prison for beating her four-year-old son to death, because she thought he was gay.
Jessica Dutro, 25, was sentenced to to life in prison on Friday, for the murder of her son Zachary Dutro-Burgess.
Under Oregon state law, she could be eligible for parole after 25 years.
In a Facebook message to her boyfriend Brian Canady admitted as evidence, she had indicated she believed Zachary would be gay, using a slur, and wrote: “He walks and talks like it. Ugh.”
In the message, she suggested Canady would have to “work on” Zachary.
The pair savagely beat him, and the boy died of blunt-force trauma to his abdomen which forced his bowel against his spine, causing intestinal tears.
Prosecutors said the injuries, combined with a delay in medical treatment, led to his death.
Canady pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault, and received a sentence of 12 and a half years.
