Background: The home in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where authorities say the abuse occurred (KDKA/YouTube). Insets (left to right): Lauren Maloberti and Landon Maloberti (Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office).
A woman in Pennsylvania who authorities said gave her adopted son a brain injury and hundreds of bruises before bragging about her actions to her husband will spend decades behind bars.
Lauren Maloberti, 37, was sentenced on Thursday to between 31 1/2 and 63 years in state prison, the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office announced. She was convicted in May of third-degree murder in the death of 5-year-old Landon Maloberti, as well as two counts of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy.
The woman's husband, 46-year-old Jacob Maloberti, is being tried separately and is "awaiting court proceedings," the agency stated. His testimony against his wife was central to prosecutors' case.
"The person I thought I was married to, I lost complete trust in," Jacob Maloberti testified in May, per The Tribune Review. "I can't wrap my head around that for a year, what I was told happened to our son didn't happen."
On Jan. 30, 2023, the husband and wife brought an unconscious Landon to a hospital just southeast of Pittsburgh in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He had a "catastrophic" brain injury and had suffered more than 100 injuries to his body, authorities said.
Medical staff told investigators that when the couple arrived at the facility, they appeared to show "no urgency," and Lauren Maloberti said the child was just "wobbly from COVID a month prior," local NBC affiliate WPXI reported. The boy was transferred to a children's hospital, where a doctor said the child's brain was "obliterated."
Landon was declared dead about a week later, with his cause of death being identified as blunt-force trauma.
"Landon was in the care and supervision of his adoptive family leading up to his death," the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office said at the time. "A forensic examination revealed previous injuries and evidence of abuse prior to his death, as well."
In July 2022, Lauren Maloberti reportedly texted her husband, "I just got done beating your son," according to regional ABC affiliate WTAE. "So, I'm wide awake."
Authorities say that the next month, she sent Jacob Maloberti a message: "Landon better behave."
"Did he say anything to you?" the husband apparently asked, to which Lauren Maloberti replied, "He's gonna get it."
Prosecutors contended that Lauren Maloberti "was loving" toward her other children, who reportedly told investigators that their mother smacked Landon, forced him to drink from a toilet and used a camera to monitor his movements.
The parents were arrested in July 2023.
Jacob Maloberti is expected to appear in court for a disposition hearing on Nov. 9.
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