posted on October 18, 2005 09:46:27 AM new
Mom Who Set Son On Fire With His Puppy May Get Death
POSTED: 5:52 am CDT October 18, 2005
ELYRIA, Ohio -- A woman who was severely burned as a child has been found guilty of killing her 4-year-old son and setting his body on fire.
An Ohio jury convicted Nicole Diar on 10 counts Monday, including two of aggravated murder aggravated arson and tampering with evidence. The 28-year-old woman could receive the death penalty.
When firefighters discovered her son Jacob's body, he was so badly burned that the coroner was unable to determine a cause of death. Prosecutors believe Jacob was suffocated or drowned before Diar burned his body and his new puppy.
Prosecutors allege Diar drugged Jacob with codeine, then strangled him as he slept in his bedroom, before setting the house on fire.
"Jacob went to bed one evening in his mother's home, in his mother's care and never woke up again," said Gary Bennett, the Lorain County prosecutor.
The October coroner's report ruled the death a homicide and stated that the cause of death was "violence of an unknown origin."
The defense said the woman wasn't capable of setting the blaze because Diar herself sustained disfiguring injuries in a fire when she was also 4 years old. The woman was burned as a child when her brother ignited her nightgown with a lighter. She underwent years of surgery so that she could move her arms and neck.
Diar had said that God was responsible for the death of her son Jacob's August 2003 death. She said, "He burned me, and now He burned him."
Some of the most damaging testimony came from baby sitters who watched Jacob, according to WEWS in Cleveland.
Months before Jacob's death in August 2003, Diar drugged him with codeine while she went out to party, baby sitters testified.
"His well-being was secondary to her lifestyle," Assistant Prosecutor Tony Cillo said. "She couldn't be bothered."
Sitters told the court Jacob was actually afraid to sleep in his second-floor room.
Police also said that on the night of the crime, Diar was out for a night on the town, drinking and singing into a karaoke machine.
But the defense painted a different picture of a loving mother who always cared for the well-being of her son.
Some neighbors alleged the boy was at times neglected.
Diar's lawyer, Jack Bradley, admitted his client wasn't the best mother but questioned a report from state fire investigators that had the fire starting in different rooms.
"Faulty forensics can lead to faulty evidence," Bradley said in closing arguments Monday.
If she gets the death penalty, Diar would be the second woman on Ohio's death row.
posted on October 19, 2005 10:58:43 AM new
These type of stories are always so sad to read. That parents could actually harm their own children is just something I've never been able to comprehend.
And for the children that do survive these horrendous parental actions....to have to live with the knowledge that the ones who supposedly love them the most in this world, who supposedly would give up their own lives for them, their parents.....could be such monsters to them.
Oh...the heartbreak.
But I believe giving young children doses of 'sleep agents' is more common that many might realize. I know three young mothers that when they want the child to sleep and they won't....they give them nightime sleep medications so that they will. And when told of the dangers...laugh it off and say all their friends do it now and again. I for one, certainly hope not.
posted on October 19, 2005 11:40:23 AM new
Sometimes that dose is for the best Linda. I used to have a roommate with a 6 year old terror machine. Mommy constantly told her how stunning she was and on and on and the little monster came to believe that she was the queen of the world and could do anything she wanted. Every so often Priness Disaster decided to test my last nerve... usually on days when I had reluctantly also agreed to watch her in the evening while her mom was at work. There were more than a couple nights that a partial pack of Theraflu in some hot chocolate after an early dinner was the only thing that kept me from throttling her.
On the upside, she was the only kid in her class that year that didn't get sick.
And yes, before someone comes along to call me a heartless abusive monster... I already know that and it's why I decided never to progress to heartless abusive mother.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
An intelligent deaf-mute is better than an ignorant person who can speak.
[ edited by fenix03 on Oct 19, 2005 11:41 AM ]
posted on October 19, 2005 11:56:36 AM new
Women don't tend to be murderers, but when a mother kills her child, I find they always get special treatment because they're the mother. If a man had custody and did this, there would be no question about his guilt, but for a woman, it's always insanity. I heard they're even thinking of letting Andrea Yates out early. (??) I just hope the courts give this woman the same treatment as they would a man - life in prison if guilty.
posted on October 19, 2005 03:29:34 PM new
As a society I think we tend to over-medicate ourselves and our children, fenix.
And giving a child medication for something that is easily changed [the bad behavior] is not necessary, imo. And might lead to other problems down the road.
Yes, I agree with you, it's better you didn't have children. I wish other mothers who are medicating their children in the same manner would stop. Teaching good behavior is not that difficult if started at an early age.
But I don't find ever medicating a behavioral problem child an appropriate, adult thing to do.
