ALLENTOWN, Pa. – An Alabama woman who blamed the death of her infant son on her toddler daughter has been sentenced in Pennsylvania to 15 to 30 years in prison.
Thirty-two-year-old Wendi Stanford, of Florence, wept in Lehigh County court Tuesday as she again professed her innocence in the November 2003 death of 2-month-old Christopher Harbin, in Allentown. She called herself "a mother who has suffered, not a violent monster."
But a judge imposed the maximum term, saying he was disturbed that she blamed another child.
An autopsy concluded that Christopher died from a skull fracture. Prosecutors allege she shook Christopher and banged his head against furniture.
Stanford claimed her daughter knocked Christopher out of a swing.
She was convicted in January of third-degree murder and child endangerment.
Her attorney plans to appeal.
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