# Drown your kids, do 10 years. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 2, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482 "2007-02-02T01:22:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482/1 "2007-02-02T01:22:54Z")
[Linky](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070201/ap_on_re_us/lake_drownings;_ylt=AmVsajdGm9PtgaWETfxU4xDMWM0F;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg-). Okay, WTFs on multiple levels. 1. That is a rather light sentence, especially considering that because of “good behaviour” and suchlike, > [@](#): > > Hamm could be released in 14 months 1. Okay, so you have an adulterous relationship, and you and your boyfriend plan to kill your kids. You, who are the actual parent, get 10 years; the guy gets life without parole. 2. Now, I have little additional information on this case, but is it just me or do women who kill their kids consistently get of light? I mean, there was that thread about someone who [microwaved her baby](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=399224), and another woman who set her child on fire [got 4 years](http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061201/NEWS02/612010414). Is this trend at least partially based on judicial bias? I have as yet little that would indicate otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482/2 "2007-02-02T01:31:10Z")
You do realize that the 14 months would be a total incarceration of four years and two months, don’t you? I’m not sayiing that’s not light either, but it’s certainly not being released from jail after just 14 months. She’s already served 3 years of the sentence in pre-sentencing confinement. I don’t get why she was cleared of pre-meditation either. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482/3 "2007-02-02T01:37:12Z")
The two were tried separately, and for whatever reason, the jury decided the prosecution failed to prove premeditation in her trial. I thought that she might have testified against him but apparently not as that wasn’t mentioned in the article. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482/4 "2007-02-02T01:38:23Z")
Well, first off, I’m confused to see that the guy was convicted of premeditated murder, but she wasn’t. Presumably they used the same witnesses, evidence and prosecutor. I’m also annoyed that the article doesn’t say what she was actually convicted of, just that she was sentenced for the deaths of the children. It’s hard to say if the sentence is in line with the conviction or not, without that information. What’s got my bullshit meter pegging high, however, is that she (and he) have maintained all along that the kids died in an accident - but at sentencing she was talking about how she regreted ever getting into a relationship with the guy. If this were a genuine accident, I’d think that she would regret the circumstances of the accident, not necessarily whom she’d tried to have a relationship with. However, regretting getting into the relationship with him makes a lot of sense, if you accept that it was a planned event. Which implies that she should be being held to a much harsher standard than seem to be the case here. I can’t say anything about judicial prejudice, since even looking at the few cases that become national news isn’t enough to make any kind of judgement on. I agree it’s an interesting question, though. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482/5 "2007-02-02T01:45:35Z")
> [@](#): > > he judge said his sentence was based in part on Hamm’s potential for rehabilitation and he did not believe she’d commit a similar crime again. He said it also factored in her failure to protect the children and sends a message to deter others from such crimes. > > LaGrone, 31, serving a life sentence without a chance of parole, has appealed his conviction. Isn’t this the way if usually goes? Boyfriend gets life. Mom gets four years 'cause she’s sorry and probably won’t do it again. Uh, yeah. Unless she has three more kids. Some message you’re sending there, judge. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482/6 "2007-02-02T01:47:27Z")
I’ve never heard of Pantagraph, but they say: _Hamm, 30, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of child endangerment Tuesday in the September 2003 drowning deaths of her three children. Christopher Hamm, 6, Austin Brown, 3, and Kyleigh Hamm, 23 months, drowned in the back seat of Hamm’s car after it sank into Clinton Lake._ > **[Hamm verdict disappoints, frustrates some in Clinton](https://pantagraph.com/news/hamm-verdict-disappoints-frustrates-some-in-clinton/article_82da4ea1-142e-58dc-a141-b0f134627e8a.html)** > > CLINTON — Some people in downtown Clinton late Tuesday afternoon expressed disappointment or frustration with a verdict acquitting Amanda Hamm of murder charges. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482/7 "2007-02-02T01:50:29Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Isn’t this the way if usually goes? Boyfriend gets life. Mom gets four years 'cause she’s sorry and probably won’t do it again. [/QUOTE] Do you have a list of similar cases where boyfriend got slammed, and mom got a hand slap? On preview: Thanks, **Oakminster**. Given that charge, I can’t say that the sentence seems out of line. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482/8 "2007-02-02T01:53:37Z")
[Local NBC affiliate](http://www.nbc5.com/family/10903037/detail.html) > [@](#): > > Prosecutors allege LaGrone planned to kill the children because they were getting in the way of his sex-and-drugs lifestyle. They claimed Hamm went along with the plan – as well as LaGrone’s abuse of her and her children – because she could not live without a man. Note that they’re saying that’s what the **prosecutors** said, not the defense! With that kind of argument I can see why the jury might have said she wasn’t guilty of first-degree murder. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482/9 "2007-02-02T01:58:21Z")
Okay, **Ferret Herder** , based on that quote, it appears that my bullshit meter needs recalibrating. Oh, well. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482/10 "2007-02-02T02:23:44Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Do you have a list of similar cases where boyfriend got slammed, and mom got a hand slap? [/QUOTE] It’s a general tendency of our judicial system. [“Women Who Kill Too Much and the Courts That Free Them: The Twelve ‘Female-Only’ Defenses”](http://www.abs-comptech.com/domestic.html#WOMEN_WHO_KILL) ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drown-your-kids-do-10-years/390482/11 "2007-02-02T15:49:12Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] What’s got my bullshit meter pegging high, however, is that she (and he) have maintained all along that the kids died in an accident - but at sentencing she was talking about how she regreted ever getting into a relationship with the guy. If this were a genuine accident, I’d think that she would regret the circumstances of the accident, not necessarily whom she’d tried to have a relationship with. However, regretting getting into the relationship with him makes a lot of sense, if you accept that it was a planned event. [/QUOTE] If you look at **Oakminster** ’s link, you’ll see that the boyfriend is claiming that the ‘accident’ occurred when he was playing a prank to ‘scare’ the children, and the prank got away from him. He also said he had played an earlier ‘prank’ on the 3-year old, putting the kid’s head in an oven. If this was true, then I could see how the mother would be sorry she’d taken up with the asshole. It seems pretty obvious to me that the mother is trash, by the way. But, given the verdict, her jury seemed to feel that she was neglectful trash rather than murderous trash.