Amanda Gail Oakes, 36, was sentenced on Wednesday to 99 years for the death of her six-month-old son, found packed into a motel freezer.
Oakes, who pled guilty to chemical endangerment, manslaughter, and corpse abuse, has further agreed to testify against then-boyfriend Carlton James Mathis — in whose care the infant is alleged to have died. He will stand trial for murder in November. The couple were fleeing Georgia authorities pursuing Mathis on charges of burglary and parole violation.
Oakes’ young teenaged daughter testified against her mother at the trial. She was in Oakes’ care at the time of the crime, offered drugs, and was at the Florida shoot-out that eventually resulted in Mathis’s arrest.
“There was a big shoot out and I believe – if I’m not mistaken – the she received shrapnel in her leg,” said Houston County District Attorney Pat Jones. “It’s a miracle she didn’t die in this whole crazy escapade.”
“It was hard for her daughter to testify against her mother. It was traumatic. I suspect she probably suffers from some PTSD having gone through all this trauma,” he said.
Oakes’ respective sentences will run concurrently, and she will receive credit for her time served thus far. Jones said that the office was “pleased with the outcomes.”
“We agreed that we would allow them to run concurrent if she pled guilty to all of them at this point. And a 99-year sentence is the maximum that would be available and we think that would be appropriate for these cases,” he explained.
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