ERICH TYLER Jr - 9 Months - Colorado Springs CO

A Colorado woman has been charged with first-degree murder and fatal
child abuse after her infant drowned in scalding water while she
allegedly left the home to buy food and cigarettes.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports 23-year-old Estella Toleafoa was charged Monday.
An arrest warrant affidavit says Toleafoa told investigators she left
9-month-old Erich Tyler Jr. and his 2-year-old brother in the bathtub
with about an inch of water on March 8.
She said when she returned about 10 minutes later, the hot water was running,
the tub was half full and Erich was floating face-down while his brother stood beside the tub.
An autopsy report says Erich died from scalding and drowning.
His brother was unharmed and is in foster care.
It wasn't clear whether the mother had an attorney.

http://www.9news.com/news/article/188945/188/Woman-charged-with-murder-after-baby-drowns-

A woman who allegedly walked to the store while her unattended
9-month-old son was scalded to death in the bathtub will stand trial for
1st degree murder.The decision was handed down Friday at the conclusion of a two-day pretrial hearing.



Estella Toleafoa, 23, will also be tried for felony child abuse.Police
say she left her two young boys home alone for 20 minutes, while she
walked across the street for cigarettes and chicken wings.When she returned,
her son Erich was dead, with severe burns to 80 percent of his body.
Police say the boy’s brother, who is two, may have turned on the hot water
after Toleafoa left the apartment on the 1100 block of South Chelton.
According to testimony from several police and firemen, the mother was hysterical while they worked the crime scene.

http://www.krdo.com/news/27809927/detail.html

Maybe she was hysterical because the two year old was still alive. Maybe she put them both in the tub, turned on the scalding water and left. Maybe the 2 year old climbed out but couldn't get the 9 month old out.

This woman is a POS.

2011CR829 - Estella Toleafoa
Division 16 06/30/2011 Arraignment 9:00 a.m.
08/19/2011 Motions Hearing 9:00 a.m.
11/28/2011 Jury Trial 8:30 a.m.

http://www.4thjudicialda.com/Press2.aspx

A Colorado Springs woman whose
9-month-old son drowned in a bathtub filled with scalding water while
she went across the street for cigarettes and chicken wings pleaded
guilty Friday to felony child abuse.

Estella Toleafoa faces 24 to 48 years in prison at her Jan. 20 sentencing.

According to an arrest affidavit,
Toleafoa, 23, told police she left Erich Tyler Jr. and his 2-year-old
half-brother, Jamari Toleafoa, naked in the tub with about an inch of
water in it on March 8 while she went out to buy milk at a nearby
convenience store.

Instead, she went to a convenience store to buy cigarettes and to a
restaurant to buy chicken wings — and retuned to find Erich floating
lifeless in a nearly full bathtub.

An autopsy ruled the cause of death was drowning and scalding.

According to a Colorado Springs police investigation, Toleafoa was
gone for approximately 20 minutes. The other boy was uninjured.

The dead child's father is a Fort Carson soldier who was serving in Afghanistan.

In a tearful address to the court, Toleafoa said she never meant to
harm the children and only wanted to pick up food while they bathed.

“I feel like I failed to do my job as a mom,” Toleafoa said in a halting voice.

“I failed to protect them, and I want to take responsibility for what I did and my actions.”

She added: “I never thought anything would happen. It never crossed my mind.”

Prosecutors agreed to drop a first-degree murder charge and a second
felony child abuse count in exchange for Toleafoa’s guilty plea to child
abuse resulting in death.

The murder charge, which alleged that Toleafoa knowingly placed the
child in a situation “practically certain” to result in death, could
have resulted in life in prison without parole.

Prosecutor Amy Fitch said after the hearing that the plea agreement
was made with the approval of the child’s family, who were not present
in court Friday. She called the plea "an appropriate resolution" to the
case.

Toleafoa’s public defender, Julian Rosielle, declined to comment.

Fourth Judicial District Judge G. David Miller is expected to impose her sentence when Toleafoa returns to court in January.


Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/went-127465-toleafoa-buy.html#ixzz1c6RNC23m