Nov 18, 2007 11:46 am US/Eastern
Woman Gets 10 Years For Hitting, Killing Toddler
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) ―
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Elijah Cozart was killed in a hit-and-run accident last December.
CBS
The woman guilty of killing a three-year-old boy is sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Elijah Cozart died after being dragged by Lazara Arellano de Hogue's truck.
Peggy Lee has more on the emotional day in court.
Just before sentencing, Lazara Arellano de Hogue told the family of Elijah Cozart his death "hurts me like my own child." She asked permission "to go on my knees to the grave of the child and ask for forgiveness."
"I was insulted. She put him in the grave, so I was very insulted," said Donna Cozart, Elijah's aunt.
De Hogue was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing 3-year-old Elijah. He died after de Hogue's truck slammed into him and his grandmother as they crossed Goucher Boulevard last December.
She drove nearly a mile with Elijah and his stroller trapped underneath. The prosecution argued Elijah would have lived if she had stopped.
Friday, the prosecutor told the judge "Elijah was alive. He was tortured to death."
"She'll have to live with this and God is the ultimate judge," said Adele McFarland, Elijah's grandmother.
Elijah's parents declined to talk after sentencing but were among family members who brought the courtroom to tears when they addressed the judge.
Elijah's grandmother Marjorie Thomas was injured in the crash and had to be taken to the hospital right away. She told the judge the worst part was that she wasn't there for Elijah, to hold him in her arms when he died.
De Hogue's Catholic priest said he visited her several times in prison.
He testified she cried constantly over Elijah, saying, "That poor mother. I can't believe I did that. I'm a mother!"
Elijah's mother Marsha later asked de Hogue, "Where was your motherly instinct when you left my mother and son for dead?"
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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