Samantha Valentine accepts culpability for the attempted murder of her 10-month-old baby boy in Albany County Court on April 25, 2023; she appears in a mugshot, inset, from October 2021. (Screengrab WRGB; Watervliet Police Department)
An upstate New York woman was sentenced to seven years in prison for the attempted murder of her infant son on Tuesday morning.
“I do accept what I did,” Samantha Valentine, 31, told a judge in Albany County – entering an allocution and pleading guilty to a series of attacks against the helpless child in October 2021.
The defendant was charged with three counts of attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the second degree, and endangering the welfare of a child after she was caught on video attacking her 10-month-old over four days – and very nearly killing him.
“First, the assaults were captured on video from the baby cam that was in the child’s room,” Watervliet Police Chief Joseph Centanni told Law&Crime at the time of her arrest. “Second, the assaults took place over a four-day period and were horrific. Third, the house was condemned for unsanitary and filthy conditions.”
Centanni also told Law&Crime that Valentine was previously arrested “for selling sick kittens that died shortly after they were delivered.”
In the footage, Valentine can be seen throwing the boy face-down onto the floor, authorities alleged in court documents obtained by Albany-based ABC affiliate WTEN. The child’s head and face were injured as he hit the floor, causing internal bleeding, police wrote.
“While standing in his bedroom, [Valentine] violently threw him onto the floor, causing [redacted] to strike his head and face,” the court document reads. “Said action did cause [redacted] to receive subdural hemorrhaging.”
The first officer to arrive found the child “lying on [his] back in obvious medical distress,” according to a press release.
That officer performed first aid until paramedics arrived, and the boy was rehabilitated at a nearby hospital. Due to the severity, nature and length of the abuse, the WPD dubbed the child a “miracle.”
The judge also issued an order of protection for the abused child, prohibiting his mother from making any contact with him until 2040.
Valentine was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Her defense attorney attributed some of Valentine’s actions to struggles with diabetes and mental health issues.
“It’s been difficult, but she has been remarkably resilient in terms of getting herself the help that we thought that she needed,” Rebekah Sokol, Valentine’s defense attorney, told local CBS affiliate WRGB. “The court didn’t mandate anger management classes, or they didn’t mandate parenting classes. Those were things she and I decided that would benefit her on her own.”
Valentine was initially held without bail on the allegations. She was eventually granted bail and was slated to be sentenced last Friday after reportedly missing at least one earlier court date, according to local NBC affiliate WNYT.
Late last week, a bench warrant was issued for the defendant’s arrest, and she made it into court.
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