Chapter 22 - Evelyn pleads guilty
Evelyn eventually entered a guilty plea to two serious felony counts reflecting reckless conduct causing the deaths, plus a reduced assault count from the funeral.
The exact agreement avoided the need for Lucy to testify in open court.
That mattered enormously to me.
Her forensic interview and other evidence were already part of the case.
But avoiding a trial reduced the chance she would be placed in the center of adult combat again.
At sentencing, Evelyn spoke.
I had expected excuses.
She surprised me.
She said:
“I wanted the babies to sleep.”
Then:
“I believed my experience made me wiser than their mother.”
She looked toward me.
“I thought Grace was making them weak by responding to them.”
My hands clenched.
Then:
“Daniel told me to stop. I decided he was afraid of his wife, not that I was wrong.”
There.
The hierarchy.
Evelyn continued:
“I did not want Miles or Owen to die. I know that does not make them alive.”
She received a substantial prison sentence.
Years.
Not life.
Not twenty-five-to-life murder sentencing.
Enough that she would be an older woman when she became eligible for release.
People asked if I was satisfied.
No.
Sentences do not satisfy dead children.
May you like
I wanted accurate.
I got something close.
