Jury convicts mother for fatal cold-shower discipline

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A state appeals court said a jury did the right thing by convicting a Kenosha woman of making her 8-year-old son take a cold shower that killed him.

The Second District Appellate Court refused today to throw out a conviction against 29-year-old Abelina Zalazar. Her son Uriel died from hypothermia in February of 2008, after she made him take a cold shower as a punishment for hitting his brother.

Zalazar failed to convince the appellate judges that there was not enough evidence to convict her. The court noted that she waited two hours to call for medical help, while the youngster was turning white.

The judges said Zalazar feared that the police would find other signs that the boy was abused. Zalazar is serving a 35-year prison sentence for first-degree reckless homicide, obstructing police, and two counts of felony child abuse. The jury found her innocent of false imprisonment.

Tags: wisconsin, crime, courts