A McKeesport woman was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for suffocating her 17-month-old son because she thought her boyfriend was cheating on her.
Christian Clark, 24, won’t be eligible for parole, according to the sentence handed down by Allegheny County Judge Edward J. Borkowski, who also tacked on an additional seven to 14 years when he sentenced her.
Clark took a plea deal in April to avoid the death penalty.
She smothered her son against the bedding of an air mattress on Nov. 1, 2016, and attempted to kill her two-year-old daughter by holding the girl’s face against a pillow. The boy, Andre Price III, died.
The father of both children, Andre Price Jr., 26, also of McKeesport, was charged with two felony counts of endangering the welfare of children because he did not intervene. Price pleaded guilty to those charges April 29 and is set to be sentenced July 29.
Clark sent Price text messages about what she planned to do to the children that night and she previously abused or threatened to harm them over the course of eight months before she ultimately killed her son, prosecutors said during the April hearing.
At that hearing, Clark pleaded no contest to charges of homicide and attempted homicide — which means she accepted the prosecution’s evidence against her but did not admit guilt.
She also pleaded guilty to three counts of child endangerment and aggravated assault related to months of abuse against both children prior to her son’s death.
