Mother Seeks Leniency for Latina Who Glued Her Child's Hands to a Wall

Elizabeth Escalona, 23, sits in a courtroom to be sentenced, in Dallas, Monday, Oct. 8, 2012.

Dallas – A Dallas woman who admitted beating her 2-year-old daughter and gluing her hands to a wall is "not a monster" and deserves probation, the child's grandmother told a judge Tuesday.

Elizabeth Escalona pleaded guilty in July to felony injury to a child, after reportedly attacking her daughter Jocelyn Cedillo a year ago because she was mad about potty training issues. Prosecutors are seeking a 45-year prison sentence for Escalona, who is 23 years old.

According to police records, Escalona's other children told authorities she kicked Jocelyn in the stomach and hit her with a jug of milk. They said Escalona then glued Jocelyn's hands to the wall with a type of strong adhesive commonly known as Super Glue.

Jocelyn suffered bleeding in her brain, a fractured rib, multiple bruises and bite marks, and was in a coma for a couple of days. Some skin had been torn off her hands, where doctors also found glue residue and white paint chips from the apartment wall.

"Only a monster would glue her daughter's hands and give her a brain injury," prosecutor Eren Price said Tuesday during the sentencing hearing.

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The toddler's grandmother, Ofelia Escalona, tearfully asked the judge to sentence her daughter to probation, saying she could be "fixed" and needed to work to support her children. "She's not a monster. She needs help," the woman said.

The grandmother now takes care of Elizabeth Escalona's five children, including a baby born this year and Jocelyn, who has recovered.

Prosecutors also played recordings in which Elizabeth Escalona as a teenager threatened to kill her mother. They said she was a former gang member who started smoking marijuana at age 11.

Ofelia Escalona said her daughter was abused as a child and that she should have helped her, though she also said Elizabeth did not tell her about the alleged abuse until a few days ago.
Testimony in the sentencing hearing was to continue Wednesday.

Based on reporting by The Associated Press.