Foster mom gets 1 year in jail after pleading guilty to killing 2-year-old

by Alyssa Roberts

(KUTV) — A foster mother who pleaded guilty to killing a 2-year-old child in her care will serve one year in jail and be on probation for 14 years, a Duchesne County judge ruled on Wednesday.

Lisa Jo Vanderlinden was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, the Utah Attorney General's office confirmed.

AG Sean Reyes called Judge Samual Chiara's ruling "beyond disappointing."

“A young child is the most vulnerable victim imaginable," Reyes said in a statement to 2News.

Vanderlinden was also fostering the child's 1-year-old sibling at the time of his death, which medical examiners determined was due to "significant internal injuries" and blunt force trauma.

The 2-year-old was found dead at Vanderlinden's home on Aug. 5, 2018.

At the time, Vanderlinden told investigators she was frustrated with the child's behavior and that he vomited multiple times that night. A family member told police they heard a loud bang from the bathroom while Vanderlinden was bathing and changing the boy, after which he wasn't acting normal and would not walk. The next morning, he was found dead.

At the time she was arrested, Vanderlinden also worked at the children's justice center, which helps investigate child abuse.

Prosecutors with the AG's office negotiated a plea deal, amending charges against Vanderlinden from aggravated murder to child abuse homicide. Both are first-degree felonies. Reyes said the plea deal allowed the state to pursue a first-degree felony charge "minus the cost of trial and without having to traumatize other children as witnesses."

"The plea deal in no way limited the Court's power to sentence in a way that would serve justice," he said.

Prosecutors argued Vanderlinden should be sentenced to the maximum prison term and stated she "refuses to accept responsibility for her actions and should not receive leniency." In a brief filed prior to the sentencing, prosecutors state:

"The defendant acknowledges that she knew the child was growing increasingly ill during the evening of August 4th but did not seek medical attention for the child."

While the AG's office respects the legal process, "we don't have to agree with the outcome," Reyes said.

"The Court absolutely could have sentenced Ms. Vanderlinden to serve five years to life, consistent with what we sought and what the pre-sentencing report recommended. Probation for a first degree felony is almost unheard of. We are at a loss as to why the Court ruled the way it did."
 

Calls to Vanderlinden's defense attorney on Wednesday afternoon were not returned by the time of this report.