A woman who failed to seek medical assistance for her badly burned 2-year-old son was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.
Denver prosecutor Kerri Lombardi said during Friday’s sentencing hearing that little Elijah Archuleta died a slow, painful death from scalding burns on his body as his mother, 25-year-old Isela Reyes- Talamantes, drove around Denver doing errands. Reyes-Talamantes had earlier pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death.
Elijah was alive and in his car seat when Reyes-Talamantes was picked up from work by her boyfriend, John Vigil, the afternoon of Nov. 7, 2008. They spent hours driving around and running errands, including stops to buy groceries and fast food.
Eight hours later, when they arrived at St. Anthony Central Hospital claiming that Elijah had choked on food, he was already dead, Lombardi said. Reyes-Talamantes was not accused of inflicting the burns, and Vigil, 25, faces trial later this year on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the boy’s death. Howard Pankratz, The Denver Post
