Counselor: Mom who glued toddler’s hands to wall loves her kids

by Jamie Stengle, Associated Press

Counselor Melanie Davis said the mom would benefit from more counseling.

AP Photo/LM Otero

Elizabeth Escalona, 23, sits in a courtroom to be sentenced, in Dallas, Monday, October 8, 2012. Escalona pleaded guilty on July 12, 2012, to injury to a child and is facing up to life in prison. A doctor has testified that the Texas mother glued her 2-year-old daughter's hands to a wall and beat the toddler so badly that she suffered significant brain trauma and bleeding inside her skull.

DALLAS — A counselor says she believes a Dallas mother loves all her children even though she beat her 2-year-old daughter and glued the toddler's hands to a wall.

Prosecutors are seeking a 45-year prison sentence for Elizabeth Escalona, who pleaded guilty in July to felony injury to a child.

Police say Escalona lost her temper and attacked Jocelyn Cedillo in September 2011.

Counselor Melanie Davis testified Wednesday that her sessions with Escalona indicate the 23-year-old mother loves her five children — and that she would benefit from more counseling.

Davis says Escalona has set herself goals to find a job and get her kids back.

Escalona might testify in her own defense. Escalona's mother testified Monday that her daughter is "not a monster" and that she deserves probation.

Jason Rice, verified:

Glued hands to a wall.

Let's just think about this a minute.

This is not a "failed to count to ten" moment...this is a person I do not want to accidentally get in a "15 Items Or Less" line for fear she's later going to insist "that she really loves to shop, but had to kill somebody to get to the front of the line."

her daughter is "not a monster"

So the toddler is not the first in the family to survive with brain damage.

7 months, 1 week ago
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Jonathan Battle, verified:

There is no defense, there is no counseling. This is beyond anything that any normal person wants in our society. This woman should go to jail for life. Period.

7 months, 1 week ago
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