A judge has sentenced Kathi Lynn Winn to life in prison for the poisoning death of her son, saying the 16-year minimum term will keep her confined until her youngest child is grown.
Winn, 35, showed no emotion as 7th District Judge James Herndon announced the sentence Monday. She could have been sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder in the May 12, 1989, slaying of 9-year-old Zerik Winn.Herndon said Winn "showed an utter disregard for human life in murdering her son." But he said the slaying did not warrant the death penalty because, "When doubt exists, then the decision is weighed in the defendant's favor."
Winn was found guilty March 2 after she admitted giving Zerik despiramine, an antidepressant drug, dissolved in hot chocolate the night before he was found dead. An autopsy showed the boy ingested 10 times the lethal dose of the drug.
Winn said she was possessed by demons who told her the medicine would help Zerik, who was complaining of stomach pains. She said later in a jailhouse interview that her first child had been killed as part of a satanic ritual in California.
Herndon said in killing Zerik, Winn twice refilled a prescription for despiramine, a drug to which she was allergic, accumulated 100 tablets of the medication and crushed the pills before giving them to her son. She then went to bed without making any effort to save him, the judge said.