Oceanside Woman Pleads Guilty in Child’s Death

Oceanside Woman Pleads Guilty in Child’s Death

By Rashed Mian on May 11th, 2011

The Nassau County district attorney’s office announced on Tuesday that an Oceanside woman has pleaded guilty to manslaughter after shaking her two-year-old adopted son to death in July 2009.

Lois Saitta, 51, pleaded guilty in exchange for a promised sentence of one year in jail and five years probation, the district attorney’s office said in a statement.

On July 20, 2009, Saitta was feeding her son at her home when she called 911, stating that the baby had fallen and wasn’t responding, according to the statement. A medical examination that followed indicated that the injuries were a result of Shaken Baby Syndrome.

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“Ms. Saitta had a duty to care for and protect her adopted son, but instead she violently shook her child to death,” District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement. “Shaken Baby Syndrome is a leading cause of child abuse deaths, and its victims are tiny and defenseless.”

According to the statement, the boy’s brain “swelled so much that a piece of skull had to be removed.” The child died on August 12, 2009. The baby was adopted by Saitta and her husband six months earlier from Guatemala.

The baby’s death was ruled a homicide and Saitta was arrested on April 14, 2010.