Wis. mom gets up to 10 years for baby's 1957 death

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin woman convicted of killing her baby daughter more than 50 years ago was sentenced Wednesday to prison for up to 10 years.

Ruby C. Klokow, 76, of Sheboygan pleaded no contest in February to a charge of second-degree murder stemming from her daughter's 1957 death. A prosecutor who recommended lenience cited Klokow's age and unspecified medical issues, as well as the challenge of prosecuting such an old case had it gone to trial.

But Judge Angela Sutkiewicz delivered a harsher sentence.

When the death was initially investigated Klokow told detectives the 6-month-old girl rolled off a couch and bumped her head. But after investigators reopened the case in 2008 she acknowledged she may have thrown the baby roughly on the couch, causing her to bounce to the floor.

Klokow's case was delayed several times after she was charged in 2011. Her mental-health status was in question but a judge ultimately decided she was competent to assist in her defense.

An initial autopsy found that the child, Jeaneen, suffered two brain hemorrhages, a partially collapsed lung and three scalp bruises. However the death was ruled accidental.

The baby's death haunted Jeaneen's older brother, James Klokow Jr., now 57. He says he grew up traumatized because his mother always told him he was to blame for his baby sister's death because the girl fell when Ruby Klokow was momentarily distracted by his misbehavior.

James Klokow eventually told police of abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother. He told investigators she often beat and choked him and kicked him with steel-toed boots, causing him a lifetime of severe knee problems. He said his mother broke his arm and nose, and described how she covered the head of his mentally challenged younger brother and struck the wailing boy's toes one by one with a hammer.

Before she was sentenced, Ruby Klokow told Sutkiewicz she was remorseful over her daughter's death, and that it caused her a lifetime of heartbreak.

Under the terms of a plea agreement, prosecutors had recommended a 45-day jail sentence and 10 years of probation.

Besides Jeaneen and James, Klokow had a third child, Scott, who died as a baby. His body was disinterred along with Jeaneen's as police investigated but his death couldn't be considered suspicious, DeCecco said.

___

Dinesh Ramde can be reached at dramde(at)ap.org.

Via Yahoo News!