Cape Coral mom Sheila O’Leary gets life for murder of toddler

Cape Coral mom Sheila O'Leary gets life for murder of toddler

A Cape Coral woman convicted of murder for starving her 18-month-old son to death will serve life in prison.

Her sentencing had been delayed four times. with Judge Bruce Kyle delivering the sentence on Monday.

Sheila O'Leary was sentenced to life in prison for the starving death of her 18 month old child. She was also sentenced to two 30 year sentences for aggravated child abuse and

O’Leary, 38, will also serve concurrent sentences for other charges in the Sept. 17, 2019, death of her son Ezra O’Leary: 30 years each for aggravated child abuse and manslaughter, and five years each for two counts of child neglect and a count of child abuse.

Previous coverage:New charges filed against Ryan O’Leary in Cape Coral child death; trial hearing cancelled

read more:Vegan mom Sheila O’Leary’s conviction stands in toddler son’s starvation death

Kyle also ordered O’Leary to have no contact with her surviving children. The judge did not comment on the sentence in court, and O’Leary stood silently in a red jumpsuit next to her attorney Lee Hollander.

In a brief interview after the sentencing, Hollander said he was not surprised at the outcome.

“It was what we were expecting,” he said.

Sheila O'Leary was sentenced to life in prison for the starving death of her 18 month old child. She was also sentenced to two 30 year sentences for aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child and five years in prison for other charges. All sentences will run concurrently. She is represented by her attorney Lee Hollander.

Hollander said he intends to appeal the sentence and seek a new trial.

Hollander had argued in court documents that the first-degree murder and aggravated manslaughter charges amounted to double jeopardy, and O’Leary’s eldest child tested remotely in violation of O’Leary’s right to confront her accuser, among other motions.

Ezra’s father, Ryan O’Leary, remains in Lee County Jail and faces a trial on the same charges, as well as on two molestation charges.

The O’Learys told police after Ezra’s death that the family followed a strict vegan diet, eating only raw fruits and vegetables, but that the toddler was also fed breast milk.

The couple also told detectives Ezra hadn’t eaten for a week and that he was having trouble sleeping the night prior to his death.

Francine Donnorummo, Special Victims Unit chief at the State Attorney’s Office, emphasized that this took place over a prolonged period of time.

“This child did not eat. He was starved to death over 18 months,” Donnorummo said in her closing arguments against Sheila O’Leary in June.

The O’Learys had three other children in the home, a 3-year-old, 5-year-old, and an 11-year-old, who also suffered from extreme neglect and child abuse.

Sheila O'Leary was sentenced to life in prison for the starving death of her 18 month old child. She was also sentenced to two 30 year sentences for aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child and five years in prison for other charges. All sentences will run concurrently. She is represented by her attorney Lee Hollander.

O’Leary was found guilty June 28.

“This child did not eat. He was starved to death over 18 months,” Francine Donnorummo, Special Victims Unit chief at the State Attorney’s Office, said during closing arguments in June.

She also used as evidence a series of Google searches O’Leary performed as the toddler’s health began to decline.

Donnorummo said O’Leary failed to provide the infant with food and health care.

“This was a thought-out, planned course of action,” Donnorummo said.

Among those who were tested during her trial were Department of Children and Families staff; first responders; medical examiners; and local first responders; and O’Leary’s ex-husband, Khang Chen.

Chen testified that he, O’Leary and their child Lilly had lived together at his mother’s place in Virginia before the O’Learys moved to Southwest Florida.

Chen and Sheila O’Leary enrolled in parenting classes following a court order from Virginia’s Child Protective Services.

At the time, Hollander indicated the trial has been hard to follow and showed jurors a series of pictures of Sheila O’Leary from Lilly’s phone.

He added there was no evidence of medical neglect, stating that the medical examiner concluded it was an accident after he conducted the autopsy and toxicology reports on Ezra.

Hollander’s defense indicated the medical examiner concluded the death was an accident after he conducted the autopsy and toxicology reports on Ezra.

Ryan O’Leary was indicted on the same six charges and has a pretrial conference before Judge Bruce Kyle slated Sept 14.

Sheila O’Leary and Ryan O’Leary have remained in Lee County Jail since November 2019.

Reporter Tomas Rodriguez and ^ archives contributed to this report.

See similar https://www.news-press.com/story/news/crime/2022/08/29/cape-coral-mom-sheila-oleary-gets-thirty-years-murder-toddler/7883687001/

The post Cape Coral mom Sheila O’Leary gets life for murder of toddler first appeared on Daily Florida Press.

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