Mom gets 13 years for killing 1 son, choking another

A Calgary woman has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for killing one of her children and trying to kill the other.

Stacey Joy Bourdeaux killed her infant son in 2004 and tried to smother her five-year-old son in 2010.

Bourdeaux will be imprisoned for nine years, seven months, allowing for time already served.

That son is now unable to speak, walk or eat without a tube and is not expected to live more than another year.

Last August, Bourdeaux pleaded guilty to manslaughter, attempted murder and failing to provide the necessities of life for not taking the five-year-old to hospital for three days after trying to kill him.

The Crown had been seeking a total sentence of 18 years.

When Bourdeaux's infant was found in his crib not breathing in December 2004, it was believed he had died of natural causes.

But the case was reassessed after Bourdeaux brought her five-year-old to the Alberta Children's Hospital in May 2010. He was shaking, incontinent and unable to stand, symptoms police said were consistent with some form of trauma.

Based on that incident, police began investigating the death of Bourdeaux's baby. She was charged with second-degree murder, but the charge was later reduced to manslaughter. She was also charged with choking with intent and failing to provide the necessities of life.