Sexually abused Ohio mom gets 37 years in prison for killing 3 infant sons as she feared they would grow up to mistreat women
OHIO: An Ohio woman, Brittany Renee Pilkington who was accused of murdering her three infant sons has pleaded guilty in the boys' deaths.
She has been sentenced to 37 years behind bars. The 27-year-old had been scheduled for a trial early next year. Since she pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and murder, the death penalty was taken off the table. Pilkington's son Noah, 3 months old, was found dead in August 2015 in her and her husband's apartment in Bellefontaine.
In April that same year, her four-year-old son, Gavin, had been found dead while another infant Niall died in 2014. Pilkington confessed to the brutal murders of the three boys. The mother had confessed to the authorities that she had killed the boys, on the day that her son Noah was found. She also shared with police that she was depressed and worried that her sons would become abusive towards women.
Her husband, Joseph Pilkington, 47, had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of sexual imposition for sleeping with her when she was underage before they were married. Joseph had originally been charged with sexual battery for starting a sexual relationship with Pilkington who was around 20 years younger than him.
He had got Pilkington pregnant when she was 17 years old in 2009. Before this, he had also had a romantic relationship with Pilkington's mother. He had also been living as Pilkington's stepfather for many years.
According to the Logan County prosecutors, Pilkington had killed her sons as she was jealous of the attention that her husband paid to the sons and not to her and their daughter. As a child, Pilkington had suffered lead poisoning, which was followed by years of mental and physical abuse. Her parents, social services, and schools failed to protect her, one of her attorneys Kort Gatterdam shared.
He also revealed that a scan identified that she had brain damage. Gatterdam said, "Sadly, she's safer living a better life in jail than on the outside".