Mom who tried to poison her three children and waited all night for them to die spared jail
A mother from Tennessee, who pleaded guilty to attempting to poison her three children by giving them a deadly drug cocktail, has reportedly been spared jail after her victims made an impassioned plea to the judge.
The woman, identified as 43-year-old Nelsondra Watson, was accused of trying to kill her children, two adults and one minor, by slipping them a mixture of NyQuil and the anti-depressant Lexapro on April 8, 2018. Watson had also planned to take her own life.
The mother "waited up all night for her children to die," however, when they did not, she called her doctor, who then alerted police about the incident. Watson was soon arrested and charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder, reckless endangerment, child abuse, and food adulteration, according to WKRN.
Watson, however, on September 10, pleaded guilty to just three counts of adulteration of food or liquid while the other charges against her were dismissed. She was subsequently sentenced to five years of supervised probation by a judge. Reports state that an impassioned plea from her children resulted in a significant reduction in her charges. Watson, as per the restrictions of a surety bond, had not been in contact with her children in the past 15 months.
The 43-year-old's two sons, Alonzo and Mario Watson, in their plea, wrote to the court that their mother would have never attempted to kill them intentionally, stating that she had a well-documented history of mental health issues. They also stated that a recent change in her medication may have resulted in her having "suicidal tendencies."
Mario Watson, in his letter, wrote: "I trust her with my life, and I know that she would not intentionally harm me or my siblings. She has been a major influence in all of our lives. I believe the medication is at fault. Everything only started falling apart after the medicine came into play which was given to her for her depression."
Watson, according to court records, had contacted her doctor the day she attempted the murders, seeking readmission to the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital. She reportedly told the doctor that she had attempted to kill her children.
While Watson's eldest son, in his letter, wrote: "I'm writing to say she isn’t guilty. I believe her depression came from living with our father. I recently found out that the side effects of the medication she was on caused suicidal tendencies. I have come to the conclusion that her depression came from the medication."
Watson, whose probationary sentence started from September 10, is scheduled for her first review on March 27, 2020. During this period, she will go through a judicial program, which will expunge her record at the end of her probation if she complies with all the conditions.