Mother Pleads Guilty to Drowning Her Autistic Son
SAN DIEGO – After an initial plea of not guilty, a mother admitted Thursday to drowning her 4-year-old son.
Daniel Corby was 4 when his mother drowned him in the bathtub
On March 31, Patricia Corby, 37, filled the bathtub in her family’s Carmel Valley condominium with water, placed her son in the bath and held him down until he stopped breathing. After an unsuccessful attempt to drown herself, she drove her son’s body to the San Diego Police Department’s station in Carmel Valley, where she flagged down an officer. The boy’s wet lifeless body was discovered wrapped in a blanket in her backseat. At the scene she reportedly admitted to killing him. She was arrested that evening and charged with assault and murder of a child.
Daniel Corby, her son, had been diagnosed with a high risk of autism when he was just a year old. According to a preliminary hearing in September, following her arrest, she reported to investigators that her son “did not have a life or a future without her” and therefore she felt it was cruel for him to continue living. Corby was a stay-at-home mother and her life was dedicated to the care of her son. Her husband was at work at the time of the drowning. A Mexican citizen, Corby had been legally in the United States with her husband who has citizenship. Based on her ties and resources in Mexico, along with her threats of suicide, she was deemed a flight risk and a danger to herself if allowed to go free. Her bail was set at $10 million. She has been incarcerated since the crime.
The Autism Self Advocacy Network has spoken out about the incident
On Thursday, a sobbing Corby, after some difficulty composing herself, plead guilty to a charge of second degree murder. She faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. Sentencing was set for Jan. 28.
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