CROWN POINT, Ind. – A woman who bludgeoned her two young sons to death with a 10-pound weight because she said she wanted them to be safe in heaven was sentenced Tuesday to 110 years in prison.
Magdalena Lopez was sentenced to consecutive 55-year prison sentences for the July 2005 deaths of 9-year-old Tony and 2-year-old Erik.
Lopez, 31, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in March to two counts of murder.
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Judge Diane Ross Boswell said she didn't see a clear connection between the killings and Lopez's mental illness, which has been diagnosed as a bipolar disorder.
Robert Lopez and his family had asked Boswell to sentence his ex-wife to the maximum 130 years in prison. He said after the sentencing that he was satisfied.
"I'm just happy that there's closure," he said. "She deserves this sentence."
On the night of the killings, Lopez was home alone with her two sons. Prosecutor Robert Persin argued that Lopez was unhappy in her marriage and killing her sons was the best way to hurt her husband, who has since divorced her.
Before being sentenced, Lopez told the judge she had been sick for about three years but hadn't received the proper diagnosis or treatment.
"I never meant to hurt anyone," she said. "I thought I was saving them from a terrible world. It's what I thought. I never would have done this if I wasn't sick."
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