Missouri mother sentenced to life for baby’s drowning

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – A Missouri woman who drowned her 6-month-old son in a bathtub has been sentenced to life in prison.

The St. Joseph News-Press reports that Sydney Jones was sentenced last week for child abuse resulting in death. Jurors found her guilty in July after a witness testified that he found Jones holding her son, Keith Lars III, down in the water in 2017.

St. Joseph police testified that she acted strangely, saying she was “a child of God.” A psychologist said she believed state mental health workers missed a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, noting that Jones said she felt possessed.

Jones said during the hearing that, “I wake up every day and think I couldn’t save my son.” A jail official testified that Jones had gotten into several fights while incarcerated.

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Information from: St. Joseph News-Press/St. Joe, Missouri, http://www.newspressnow.com