BRIANNA GRESS - 4 Months (2008) - Orlando FL

Mom found guilty of neglect in starved-baby case
But Lauren Gress was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter

Lauren Gress, an Orlando mother accused of starving her twin daughter to death, took the stand Wednesday during her trial on Wednesday, September, 01, 2010, in Orlando, Fla.

To Lauren Gress, it appeared
that her life was coming unglued, according to her attorney. She was 22
and a single mother with four children: a 3-year-old girl, 2-year-old
girl and two premature babies who had just come home after a stint in a
neonatal intensive care unit.The twins' father was in state prison.
Her mother was dying, and Gress was working full-time at a minimum-wage job.On
Nov. 16, 2008, at about 2 a.m., she checked on the littlest one,
Brianna, 4 months, the smaller of the twins. The baby wasn't breathing
and was cold to the touch.Prosecutors charged her with aggravated
manslaughter. A jury Thursday found her guilty of something less: child
neglect. It also convicted her of neglecting the other twin, Edwin Jr.,
who also was severely malnourished but survived.Gress broke into
tears and sobbed at news of the verdict. She was handcuffed and led to a
holding cell at the Orange County Courthouse.
She's likely to be sentenced to eight to 30 years in prison. A hearing on that is set for Oct. 28.Defense
attorney Richard Hornsby said when the two babies came home from the
hospital in August, Gress found herself alone, destitute and
overwhelmed.She worked full-time as a night clerk at at hotel and struggled to tend to her children, he said.She
did not withhold food from the twins, he insisted. She was advised to
feed them when they demanded it – not every three hours, a more
conventional schedule – and that is what she did."She followed instructions," he said.
"Where she's at fault is she didn't recognize the signs."
"I beg you for acquittal," he said in his closing argument.But the signs of malnutrition were obvious.Assistant
State Attorney Ryan Vescio showed jurors photos of the babies just days
before Brianna died. Their faces were gaunt, their eyes sunken, their
ribs protruding and their bellies distended from malnutrition."This
is not the case of a woman who is so poor she can't feed her children,"
Vescio said. It was the case of a woman who failed to feed her babies
enough formula and made bad decision after bad decision.She blew
off four doctor appointments, he said, in part because she could not fit
four child car seats in her Audi. She then lied to family members,
saying she'd taken the twins for medical checks.She needed help, he said,
but instead of asking for it, kept her children isolated."Not feeding an infant,
there should be no question that would cause great bodily injury," he said.
Hornsby, the defense attorney, said a psychiatrist and psychologist
have both concluded that Gress suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
That is something Circuit Judge Tim Shea may hear as testimony at her sentencing hearing.

Red by me; Another case of complete and utter irresponsible behaviour. I really want to know why these young girls want to have baby after baby when they are useless mothers and why do they choose complete losers to have them with? It's a psychopathy or personality disorder or whatever handle we want to call it just as is bulimia and Anorexia and eating until your 500lb's IMO and somebody needs to commission a study on it so we can stop all this. We can't keep letting these babies and children be raised by screwed up people! These babies are all born with an agenda which is to fulfill some need for the mother.

She can still get between 8 and 30 years jail even with the dumbing down of the crime. Let's hope it's 30, otherwise she'll be out after 6 years and having another 4 babies!

She'll be out before she's 29. Not long enough IMO and how many more babies will she have?