Apparently justice can be swift after all. The mother of murdered Ohio baby Elaina Steinfurth has been convicted of killing her own daughter and sentenced to prison, along with her boyfriend. Yes, this is the same mother and boyfriend who were indicted on murder charges on Monday.
But after months behind bars on other charges, it seems Angela Mories Steinfurth and Steven King II were finally ready to own up to what they did to her little girl. They went from innocent until proven guilty to guilty and headed to prison in a matter of two days!
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It's certainly odd, but I'd like to think they had time to reflect on what happened to that little girl back in June and realized they owed her some justice ... if nothing else. Could this be the first time they actually stood up and did something for Elaina?
Could they have realized that stringing this along is simply adding insult to injury to the people who are grief stricken over the loss of the little girl? That these people deserve some sort of closure?
Call me naive, but I'd like to think that even monsters can show some compassion now and again.
Of course, Angela pleaded guilty in what's called an Alford plea. It's akin to pleading no contest to charges. She admitted there was sufficient evidence against her to convict her but didn't actually have to cop to the crime to be convicted. In exchange, she got a lighter sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole at 18 years ... for not 'fessing up, at least not really.
King, on the other hand, confessed the grisly details of the crime.
Prosecutors say Angela threw Elaina across the room in a fit of pique when the baby wouldn't stop crying. King then told the court that when he tried to perform CPR, blood was pouring out of the baby girl's nose. He confessed to holding his hand over Elaina's mouth and nose, suffocating the baby.
For his part, King got his own life sentence with the possibility of parole at 25 years.
It's ironic that he came clean and got the heavier sentence, but there it is. The mystery is over. The family of Elaina Steinfurth knows not only that she's gone, but why and how.
And now what? They can move on? It seems impossible, but this is life. It may take a long time, but without a mystery hanging over their heads, or even a trial, they finally get some closure. They know the monsters who did this are behind bars for quite some time, maybe forever.
That's what comes of swift justice -- something for the families, at least.
What do you think of the swift convictions here?
Image via National Center for Missing & Exploited Children