An Ohio mother has pleaded guilty to killing her 6-year-old son and attempting to abandon her two other children. The request comes as officials decide to search for James Hutchinson's body.
Brittany Gosney, 29, of Middletown, Ohio, pleaded guilty Monday to murder and two counts of child endangerment after attempting to dump her son in a wildlife area and running him over as he tried to get back into the car. She filed her pleas during a court hearing sought by her lawyer, who wanted prosecutors to be barred from using statements she made to detectives at trial.
Mom and boyfriend attempted to abandon children
Gosney was charged with 16 charges in all, and she first pleaded not guilty due to insanity. Following a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, she was declared able to stand trial in April. As part of her plea agreement, the other 13 counts were dismissed. When she gets sentenced on September 13, she might spend the rest of her life in jail.
James Hamilton, Gosney's boyfriend, was charged with 15 counts in the case, including mistreatment of a body, evidence tampering, and child endangerment. Hamilton pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was scheduled to appear in court later Monday although it was unclear if he would enter any pleas, Fox News reported.
According to authorities, Gosney told investigators that Hamilton pressured her to get rid of 6-year-old James Hutchinson and his two other siblings, aged 9 and 7. Investigators said Gosney took the three children to the park in late February intending to abandon them, but there was no indication that she intended to murder them.
Per Daily Mail, prosecutors claim that on February 26, the mother of four took three of her children to a park in Preble County intending to abandon them. As she rushed away from the children, James Hutchinson, her six-year-old son, grabbed the car door handle and collapsed, receiving a fatal head injury.
After returning to the park 40 minutes later, Gosney discovered the kid had died. She then returned home with his body and her other two children. Gosney's boyfriend, James Hamilton, 43, reportedly assisted her in dumping the kid in the Ohio River, which was weighed down with a concrete block, two days later.
For murder, she faces a sentence of 15 to life in prison, as well as 36 months for each allegation of child endangerment. Gosney was first charged with 16 felonies, including involuntary manslaughter, endangering minors, abduction, and kidnapping.
Missing son's weighted body dumped in the river
Prosecutors claimed Gosney kept James' body in a separate room for two days after bringing it home before discarding it in the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg, Indiana, with the help of her boyfriend Hamilton.
According to WXIX, a concrete block was used to weigh down the boy's body before it was tossed into the river. James' corpse has still not been located nearly six months later. The Middleton Police Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment regarding the search's status.
James was remembered with balloons and stuffed animals at a memorial held in front of his former house in Middletown. Prosecutors said the children's abandonment was motivated by Hamilton's pressure, and she had previously attempted but failed to take custody of them.
Hamilton also appeared in court, where he faces 15 accusations including corpse abuse, evidence tampering, endangering minors, kidnapping, and abduction. He filed a not guilty plea in front of the judge and is expected back in court later this month, with a jury trial set for October 4 if he does not accept the plea.
Hamilton is being detained on a $750,000 bail at the moment. According to officials, the other children were removed from the house and placed in foster care or with Child Services. Gosney has four children, according to her various Facebook accounts: two daughters and two sons.
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