PONTIAC, Mich. – A suburban Detroit woman accused of poisoning her husband and son by lacing their milkshakes with prescription drugs was sentenced Thursday to up to 30 years in prison.
Mary Cannon, 47, of Troy, pleaded no contest but mentally ill to two counts of attempted murder Jan. 3. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.
Oakland County Circuit Judge Mark Goldsmith sentenced Cannon to a minimum of 11 years and three months and a maximum of 30 years, assistant prosecutor Tare Wigod said. By pleading to being mentally ill, Cannon is eligible for treatment while in prison.
In 2004, prosecutors said, Cannon put drugs in milkshakes she had purchased from a McDonald's, then gave them to her husband, Richard Shaw, and then-13-year-old son, Ian Shaw. Toxicologists and police said the drugs found in the victims and residue from the milkshakes matched Cannon's anti-anxiety medications.
Richard Shaw, who collapsed soon after drinking the shake, was hospitalized for 11 days, seven of them in a coma. Ian, who had less medicine in his system, was hospitalized for three days.
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