A 22-year-old suburban Chicago woman who pleaded guilty in the strangulation death of her newborn son has been sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
The Cook County State's Attorney's office says Jessica Cruz of Hanover Park pleaded guilty to aggravated battery of a child under 13 in December and was sentenced Thursday as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. Cruz initially was charged with first-degree murder. But a jury last year could not reach a verdict and a judge declared a mistrial.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Cruz could have received up to 30 years in prison but that prosecutors requested the 15-year sentence.
Cruz was charged after her son's body was found in a trash can of a public restroom in November 2011.
The newborn, a 6 pound, 11 ounce boy about 18" long, was found wrapped in plastic in the trash receptacle with his umbilical cord still attached. Authorities said at the time they believed the bag was used to strangle the boy.
