NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: A New Orleans woman who is serving a life sentence after she was convicted of the second-degree murder of her five-month-old son Emmanuel is recommended for release.
The new development was announced last week by the Louisiana pardon board after the members unanimously voted to free Tiffany Wood.
She has already served 17 years in prison for causing her baby’s malnutrition death.
Prosecutors proved in the court that she fed the child cow’s milk after fleeing Hurricane Katrina, as per AP.
Why did Tiffany Woods kill her five-month-old son?
Woods is now 43 and is held in Louisiana prison for her role in the November 2005 death if her son.
The mother-of-three fed the infant cow’s milk instead of baby formula, causing the death due to malnutrition.
“The formula he was taking, he wasn’t swallowing. He was always throwing it up, and then we ran out of WIC (food) vouchers, so I decided to switch it ... I switched it to organic milk. I thought he was doing better, but he wasn’t thriving,” Woods said to the parole board this week, reports the Advocate.
The convicted mother further said that she suffered from depression and stress at the time.
“My family wasn’t around me. I didn’t know whether they were alive or not,” And I made poor choices and my son lost his life because of me,” she said.
Woods and her husband Emmanuel Scott were both found guilty of second-degree murder and were sentenced to life in prison, as per the report.
What did prosecutor say on the recommendation?
One of the prosecutors, Suzanne Ellis, opposed Woods’ release. “I will go to my grave remembering this baby,” Ellis said.
She added, “This baby was the most pitiful thing I have seen in 26 years. Please do not give her an opportunity to release. Do not give her an opportunity to harm another child, because I am convinced that if she can, she will.”
The advocate reported that Woods told the parole team that she has worked on herself during her prison time and has taken courses on parenting, anger management, and trauma healing.
“We really don’t have any issues with Ms Woods,” said Warden Kristen Thomas while calling her a “low-risk, low-need” inmate.
“You’re not the same person that you were,” observed board member Bonnie Jackson, a former East Baton Rouge Parish judge.
The final decision on her release will be taken by Governor John Bel Edwards.
