A woman who pleaded guilty to smothering her 23-month-old babysitting charge will serve five years in prison for the crime.
Jessica Fraraccio, 22, of Manassas pleaded guilty in October to felony child abuse and felony murder charges in connection with the August 2012 death of 23-month-old Elijah Nealey at his family's Manassas home.
On Monday, Jan 13, Fraraccio was sentenced to 50 years in prison—the maximum penalty under the law— but all but five of those years are suspended, according to an NBC report.
Fraraccio was arrested in March about seven months after Elijah's death. Police said an investigation revealed the boy died of suffocation.
At some point, Fraraccio told police she’d smothered Elijah by putting her hand over his mouth because he was misbehaving as she tried to feed him, Michael Nealey told Patch in an earlier report.
Read the father's reaction to his son's death, his murderer's arrest and guilty plea: Father of Slain Toddler Grapples With Son's Death, Weighs in on Babysitter's Guilty Plea
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