A York County woman was sentenced Thursday to five years in jail, with four suspended, for neglect that lead the death of her infant son in November.
York-Poquoson Circuit Court Judge Richard AtLee sentenced 20-year-old Sabrina A. Battad to five years in jail, but suspended four years. Counting the time served since her arrest in November 2011, Battad should be released from jail in about a month.
AtLee said the sentence exceeds the state’s sentencing guidelines for one charge of child neglect. He added that Battad will have to be supervised by a probation officer for up to 10 years, during which period she cannot have contact with children younger than 10 years old without prior approval from her probation officer.
Battad was initially charged with first-degree murder when she was arrested Nov. 18, but the charge was reduced to second-degree murder before it was finally lowered to child neglect. In June, she pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse and neglect.
Battad told authorities she was home alone on the morning of Nov. 18 when her son, Curtis, became fussy. She initially said she found her baby wasn’t breathing, then called 911, but after further questioning from authorities, she said she had shaken her baby when he had a temper tantrum.
She said he cried loudly, his face turned red and she thought he might not be breathing, but placed him in his crib. She estimated 10 to 15 minutes passed before she checked on him again, at which time she found he wasn’t breathing and called her mother for help. At that time, she called 911.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney lowered the charge to child neglect after an autopsy performed by the medical examiner showed no signs of shaken baby syndrome. A Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters expert wrote that minutes could have made a difference in saving the child’s life, however.
At Thursday’s hearing, Battad’s attorney had four character witnesses testify that her personality has changed for the better since she’s been incarcerated. Her mother, Tina Battad, told the court her daughter had suffered from depression prior to the birth of her son, but a doctor recommended she quit her medications for the duration of her pregnancy.
Her mother said that since being incarcerated, her daughter has started therapy, resumed taking medications and has noticeably matured. This assessment was echoed by family friends who testified Sabrina was an active and productive member of their church before she became pregnant and is welcome to return. Battad’s mother said she can come live with her again; she was living with her mother and younger brother and sister at the time of Curtis’ death.
In her closing argument, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Donna Maw said the guidelines for sentencing were “woefully inadequate.” She said that as a mother, she knew there was no punishment worse than losing her son, but that “all the love you see here for the defendant could not save the baby. He was left with someone too immature, too self-centered.” She pressed for the maximum sentence possible.
Battad tearfully told the judge she wanted to go “back into the world and change for the better,” and said her son’s death “hurt me so much and it still hurts me today that I don’t have him anymore.”
“It was a horrible mistake I made, and I don’t have an excuse and I’m not going to make an excuse,” she said. “Please believe I have changed … I will be a better person for my son’s sake.”
