A once-prominent autism advocate and blogger accused of trying to kill her severely autistic daughter has pleaded guilty to first-degree child abuse.
Kelli Stapleton, 46, had been set to go to trial Wednesday, a year to the day after she allegedly shut herself and her 15-year-old daughter, Isabelle nicknamed Issy in a closed van and lit two charcoal barbecue grills.
Kelli and Issy were discovered unconscious from carbon monoxide poisoning after the failed murder-suicide attempt, police said. The child remained in a coma for days but has recovered; Kelli Stapleton went to jail.
Her ex-husband says the case reveals the depths of desperation that his family and others face every day.
Ill never condone what she did, Matt Stapleton, 42, a high school principal and father of three from Elberta, Michigan, said before Kelli entered her plea. She will be judged and I'm sure they will look at what happened September 3rd and everything that put her in the position where she didnt think there were any other options.
Benzie County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Tang-Anderson said Kelli Stapleton entered the plea Tuesday morning. Stapleton had been scheduled to go on trial Wednesday on a charge of attempted murder. Tang-Anderson says no sentencing date was set. The maximum sentence she faces is life in prison.
Critics excoriated Kelli Stapleton for allegedly attempting to murder her own child. Comments on the website for Autism Speaks, an advocacy agency, compared the mother to Hitler, who wanted to purge society of disability. Others said she should be tried on hate crimes charges for targeting someone with autism.
If you had autism, howd you like your mother to decide that you shouldnt live anymore? one commenter wrote.
Your child is your child. DEAL WITH IT, life is not about coasting, it is about rising, another wrote.
If you had autism, howd you like your mother to decide that you shouldnt live anymore?