URIEL ZALAZAR - 8 yo (2008) - Kenosha WI

After eight days of trial, jurors decided
Wednesday that a Kenosha mother killed her 8-year-old son by punishing
him with a cold shower.
Jurors deliberated about 90 minutes before deciding that Abelina
Zalazar, 27, was criminally responsible for the February 2008 death of
her son, Uriel Zalazar.




Uriel died after his mother allegedly made him run around
their house and then take a shower in 38-degree water as a punishment
for hitting his 4-year-old brother. Experts believe the shower caused
hypothermia, which likely stopped the boy’s heart.
Jurors found Abelina Zalazar guilty of first-degree reckless
homicide, obstruction and two counts of child abuse. Jurors acquitted
Zalazar of false imprisonment.
Zalazar faces more than 40 years in prison. She also faces deportation because she is an illegal immigrant.
No sentencing date was set Wednesday evening.
In order to find her guilty of a homicide-related charge, jurors
were instructed to consider whether Zalazar’s actions were a
substantial factor in Uriel’s death. Jurors also were told to weigh
whether Zalazar’s actions created a substantial risk of death or great
bodily harm, whether Zalazar was aware of that risk and whether she
disregarded her son’s life.
Jurors spent the afternoon listening to lawyers’ final arguments.
Defense attorney John Moyer urged jurors to separate the tragedy of
Uriel’s death from his mother’s potential criminal responsibility for
the end of his life. Disciplinary tactics Moyer
also asked jurors to set aside their disapproval, even their revulsion,
at Zalazar’s disciplinary tactics, which included tying her son by one
arm and one leg to a bed, whipping him with a vacuum cord, making him
run until tired and ordering him to take cold showers.
Prosecutors also alleged Uriel was burned, punched and had his
middle toes purposely pounded, which blackened the nails — injuries
that were purposely concealed under clothing, prosecutor Michael
Graveley said.
“Abelina Zalazar punished Uriel harshly in a physical way,” Moyer
said. But, he added, “Look at what she knew. I don’t think she
understood the gravity of what the punishments could do to her son.”
A fair and objective review of the evidence would show that Zalazar
was not aware of the physical risks to her son, Moyer argued.
Waited to call 911
Graveley argued that Zalazar’s culpability went beyond being aware
of the risks of punishment and included her failure to call 911 after
she found Uriel limp and unconscious in the near-freezing shower water.
Graveley spent nearly 90 minutes cataloging Zalazar’s “out of
control anger” and the torturous punishments she devised for her son,
as well as her unwillingness, on the day of Uriel’s death, to call to
get him “meaningful, life-saving” help.
Zalazar reportedly covered the child with blankets, massaged him
with rubbing alcohol and tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but waited
more than an hour, possibly close to two hours, before calling
paramedics.
Those facts, Graveley said, added up to a mother who was more
worried about covering up apparent abuse to save herself than saving
her son.
“You have to consider it all together,” Graveley said.

A state appeals court has ruled a jury properly convicted a Kenosha woman of forcing her young son to take a cold shower that killed him.
Multiple experts testified that Abelina Zalazar's 8-year-old son, Uriel, died of hypothermia after Zalazar forced him to take a freezing shower as punishment for hitting his brother in 2008.

A jury convicted her of first-degree reckless homicide. She argued there wasn't enough evidence to convict her.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals said she didn't call for medical assistance for two hours even though the boy was turning white and couldn't speak. The court noted she was afraid police would discover signs of other abuse she had inflicted on him.

Jeffrey Jensen, Zalazar's attorney, says she will appeal to the state Supreme Court.

http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/Wis_court_upholds_child_abuse_conviction_-_8-year-old_dies_after_freezing_cold_shower_138978509.html

Good! This monster torturing mother needs to stay in jail the rest of her life. That poor boy was tortured to death. Someone should put her in a 38 degree shower until she goes into shock and dies. She's a cold blooded killer.