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| Tina Marie Alberson,44. |
A Dallas woman was convicted Friday in the dehydration death of her
10-year-old stepson who was denied water for days during record-high
temperatures in North Texas.
Police thought Jonathan's death was heat-related until the medical examiner's report.
Alberson
had testified in her own defense. She told jurors she limited
Jonathan's water intake only a few times as punishment for misbehaving,
and that she saw him drinking water when he wasn't in "time-out." She
said she saw no sign that he was in medical distress.
The
boy's fraternal twin brother, now 12, testified that Jonathan
repeatedly asked for water and even pretended to use the bathroom in
order to sneak a drink from the faucet before their stepmother ordered
him out. Joseph James, told jurors, he was concerned for his brother's health but was too afraid of Alberson to do anything.
During
the sentencing phase, the twins' maternal grandmother, Sue Shotwell,
testified that the boys didn't want to go to Alberson's house and that
Jonathan couldn't understand why he was always in trouble with his
stepmother.
Prosecutors
said Alberson should spend the rest of her life behind bars, but
defense attorneys asked jurors for the minimum sentence, five years.
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