RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A Riverside County judge on Thursday sentenced Amy Leanne Prien to life in prison for murdering her infant son by allowing him to ingest a lethal dose of methamphetamine, possibly through her breast milk.
The mother of four, convicted of second-degree murder and child endangerment in early September, did not take the stand to plead for mercy, nor did any members of her family. Prien, 31, will be eligible for parole in 15 years.
Prien’s 3-month-old son, Jacob Wesley Smith, was found dead in Prien’s bed on Jan. 19, 2002. The Riverside County coroner initially determined that the boy died of sudden infant death syndrome, but toxicology tests later found traces of methamphetamine in the boy’s stomach and blood system.
Riverside County district attorney Grover Trask made Prien’s prosecution a top priority, saying he wanted her case to serve as a deterrent for other drug abusers and to help change the county’s reputation as the nation’s "methamphetamine capital."
During the three-week trial, prosecution witnesses described Prien’s home as a squalid drug den frequented by users and dealers. Afterward, one juror said Prien may have loved her son, but "she loved that meth more."
"She shows no remorse and no attention to the consequences of her actions," said Allison Nelson, the Riverside County supervising deputy district attorney who prosecuted Prien. "The only way to protect society and her children was imposing a life sentence."
Superior Court Judge Charles Morgan handed down the sentence after dismissing a motion for a new trial by Prien’s attorney, Stephen Yagman.
During the trial, Nelson argued that the boy’s death was likely caused by Prien’s drug-tainted breast milk. She said the boy also may have ingested the methamphetamine from baby-bottle liners that were used to package the drug in Prien’s home.
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