Tunapuna woman jailed for killing son

A WOMAN who pleaded guilty to the unlawful killing of her four-year-old son was yesterday sentenced to two years in prison by a High Court judge. Elizabeth Leazama maintained her composure as she stood before Madame Justice Alice Yorke Soo-Hon at the Port-of-Spain Third Criminal Court awaiting her sentence. Leazama, 27, was charged with manslaughter after she threw an eight-inch knife at her husband, Lyndon, during a domestic dispute. The knife had missed its intended mark and, instead, stuck in the chest of their son Meshack. Leazama had pleaded guilty to the charge on May 9. 

The judge acknowledged that the grieving woman’s pain was twofold because she had lost her child at her own hands, but reminded her that the child’s death was an act of  “total irresponsibility.” Soo-Hon recalled the words of Leazama’s husband, who was called to the witness stand as part of her mitigation plea. Lyndon had told the court of the extent of his wife’s love for their child. While Soo-Hon did not dispute that the woman loved her child, she highlighted that the life of a young boy was “snuffed out” because “your love did not go beyond your selfishness.”

She said Leazama’s clean record and her guilty plea weighed heavily in her favour, but the crime was a serious one, especially since the death of the child was brought about by a quarrel between two adults. In cases of manslaughter, Soo-Hon said, non-custodial sentences were reserved for exceptional circumstances. And, since she could find no exceptional circumstances in this case, she had to impose a prison term. The State’s case against Leazama was that she was at her home at Centenary Street, Tunapuna, on January 14 2001 with her husband and son.

The child’s father struck him on the leg for playing with his (Lyndon’s) pens, causing Leazama to pound her husband on his head. Shortly after, Leazama, who was peeling potatoes at the time, threw the bowl of potatoes at her husband, and she then threw the knife at him. It missed him and struck her son, who was seated in a chair in front of her. The boy was rushed to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, where he subsequently died. A post-mortem report revealed he died from a single puncture wound in the chest. Leazama was represented by attorney Mari Merritt, while State attorneys Nalini Singh and Tricia Hudlin prosecuted.