Bradyn Smith was four years old when he saw his mother stab his father, Robert Takach, who died at the hospital at age 25. His mother, Shannon Smith, now 29, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence during the murder of her husband, back in 2009.
Now 10 years old, Bradyn appeared in court in Warren County, Ohio, to request early release for his mother. However, the young boy seemed hesitant to ask for his mother's freedom, and instead penned a letter to the judge asking him to keep her imprisoned, according to The Washington Post.
"Dear Judge Peeler: I feel that my mom should stay in prison because I seen (sic) her stab my dad clean through the heart with my sister in his arms," Bradyn wrote. "...Life for me would be 10 times better if mom didn't kill my dad because that took a big amount of happiness out of mine and my sister's life."
The judge did not seem moved by the letter however, and brought forward Smith's release date to next December. Patty Todd, mother of the victim, was "in shock" at the ruling and claimed that the children, Bradyn and his little sister, were still afraid of their mother.
"She took a life in front of her children. The court just disregarded the children's lives, my son's life," Todd said.
When she was arrested, Smith told the police that she had been pregnant with another man's child while Takach had been in rehabilitation, according to ITV News.
The altercation happened when Takach, who had a history of abusing drugs and alcohol, visited Smith's house to spend time with his children, and he heard of the news about her pregnancy. However, the court revealed that Smith had previously attacked Takach with a skillet, a butter knife and her car.
Smith did claim that she was just defending herself, as Takach became violent, but Warren County Common Pleas Judge Robert Peeler was not convinced. Smith's lawyers planned to appeal her conviction to 12th District Court of Appeals in Middletown, in 2010, according to the Dayton Daily News.
