Key in Jail Cell Door.Photo: Charles O’Rear / Getty Images
A Baltimore mother pleaded guilty to arson and murder charges for the fire that killed six of her children in 1992.
On Tuesday, Baltimore Circuit Judge Robert K. Taylor Jr. accepted the plea deal and sentenced Tonya Lucas, 59, tolife in prisonfor her crimes. She will also be placed on probation, reportsThe Baltimore Sun.
Lucas previously spent 23 years in prison and then served time on home detention before she was granted a pretrial release,The Baltimore Bannerreports.
“There’s no point in me giving any kind of sentencing lecture in this case,” Judge Taylor said. “The accusations here are the most horrendous I’ve seen as a judge.”
Baltimore City Circuit Courthouses which house the judges for the State of Maryland.Getty
Getty
“I will take it on faith that the person you are today is not the person you were all those years ago,” he said.
Lucas accepted a plea agreement on one count of arson and six counts offirst-degree murderfor the deaths of her six children. She declined to speak in court during her sentencing.
“This was a tragic situation that would have only resulted in more harm if Ms. Lucas had to endure a fifth trial,” Lucas' attorney, Assistant Public Defender Anne-Marie Gering, said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Each trial takes an extreme emotional and physical toll on Ms. Lucas, who is battling metastatic breast cancer. With this plea, she can remain in the community to receive the best medical treatment, and is spared re- experiencing the trauma of the fire and the subsequent deaths of her six children.”
Key in Jail Cell Door.Charles O’Rear / Getty Images
According toThe Sun, Lucas' first conviction depended on fire investigation standards that have since been discredited. Due to inconsistencies in the outdated investigative efforts, arson exonerations around the country began to take place, and in 2015, the courts overturned Lucas’ guilty verdict.
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While she continued to maintain her innocence, Lucas was allowed to serve time in home detention in 2016 so she could receive treatment for her advanced-stage cancer.
At the beginning of Lucas' 2017 trial, prosecutor Rita Wistoff-Ito told a Baltimore jury that the night before the fire, Lucas spoke to her basement neighbors about how to escape a blaze, perReuters. That trial ended in a mistrial, with Lucas' attorney at the time claiming nine jurors voted to acquit, reportsThe Baltimore Sun.
A seventh child of Lucassurvived the flames, reports Reuters. The victims’ ages ranged from 2 to 12 years old.
Four of her children’s bodies were discovered inside of the home and two died at the hospital after the July 7, 1992 fire, Catherine Flynn, chief operating officer for the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office, explained Tuesday, reportsThe Baltimore Banner.
Generic and blurry police lights from a cruiser vehicle and car headlights behind yellow crime scene do not cross caution tape at night.Getty/iStockphoto
Prosecutors said they believe Lucas was to be evicted from the building and is accused of starting the blaze to cover up suspicion that her 2-year-old son, Gregory Cook, was not properly taken care of, reportsThe Sun.
The boy was said to have been “horribly emaciated” and “appeared to be a skeleton," according to prosecutors.
One witness, Eugene Weddington, claimed Lucas offered to perform oral sex on him for $10,The Baltimore Bannerreports. She allegedly used the money to buy drugs, and Weddington claimed Lucas told her she planned to set her house on fire because she was in danger of being evicted, according to the outlet. Weddington also claimed he saw Lucas squirting a liquid and lighting a fire in the living room.
“The family felt as though she had served time for the crime,” James Bentley, a spokesman for Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, toldThe Baltimore Sun. “They told her they forgave her but that they did not forget. But they also talked about their need for closure.”
“Tonya, though we believe that there should be consequences for the decisions that you made, God is still merciful,” Rev. Angela Burden, a relative of two individuals who died in the blaze, said during Tuesday’s sentencing.
“I pray, we pray as a family, that you have come to know the Lord," Burden said,The Baltimore Bannerreports. “I forgive you.We forgive you.”
source: people.com
