A 26-year-old Grand Junction woman was sentenced Monday to 50 years behind bars after she pleaded guilty to fatally shaking and beating a former boyfriend’s 2-year-old son.
Sarah Beaudoin pleaded guilty last month to child abuse and child abuse resulting in the death of 2-year-old Keaton Anderson, the son of her former fiance. In exchange, prosecutors dropped a first-degree murder charge.
Beaudoin was accused of shaking and hitting Keaton after he hit her son while the boys were playing on Jan. 26.
Beaudoin and Keaton’s father, Steven Anderson, were sharing an apartment with the two boys at the time. It was not immediately clear if they were still engaged when the incident occurred.
Keaton died two days later after suffering a seizure. An autopsy report said he had bruises on the back of his head, his retinas were torn and he had bitten his tongue.
During her sentencing hearing Monday, Beaudoin said she would trade her life for Keaton’s if she could and that she hoped she could be forgiven someday.
“I never thought that morning that Keaton would die,” Beaudoin said.
The judge ordered her to serve the first two years of her sentence in the Mesa County jail and the remaining 48 years in state prison.
Prosecutor Tammy Eret said Beaudoin first denied assaulting Keaton and blamed her son, her brother and her fiance’s sister before admitting she was responsible.
Beaudoin’s lawyer, David Eisner, said Beaudoin probably would have received a lesser sentence if she had acknowledged her role from the beginning.
