Narjes Modarresi, 32, an Iranian immigrant who moved to Texas, was convicted of capital murder for burying her two month old child alive, reporters Daily Mail. It took a Houston jury only two hours to deliberate before coming back with a guilty verdict, the report adds. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Modarresi’s infant son died face down in a muddy bayou in April 2010.
According to KHOU Houston, Modarressi first told police that her son was kidnapped from his stroller. However, she later admitted that she lied about the kidnapping, and lead police to a swampy area where they would find the child’s body. The autopsy report showed the baby’s lungs were filled with mud and water, indicating that he was alive when buried in the mud.
According to Daily Mail correspondents, prosecutor Sunni Mitchell, told jurors that Modarresi never formed any type of bond with her son, “a baby she never wanted and never loved.”
Modarresi’s lawyers tried to argue she is mentally ill, and pushed for the jury to convict her for felony murder, a lesser charge. The Daily Mail reports that Modarresi showed no emotion while being found guilty, and showed no emotion while being given a life sentence.
Amir Golabbakhsh, the child’s father, argued Modarresi should be given leniency, reports KHOU Houston.
“If she is really sick and everything, which I think she is, she should not spend her life in prison and forever.”
Despite this, prosecutors argue mental illness or not, “what happened to him was not right, (and) what happened was not justified.”
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