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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A woman convicted of lying to police after her boyfriend allegedly beat her 2-year-old son to death over potty training will serve at least four years in prison.
Jasmine Bridgeman, 24, of Layton will have her first parole hearing in May 2020, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole decided. The board members will consider then whether she should be released or serve out the rest of her sentence, which could last up to 15 years.
Bridgeman pleaded guilty to an obstruction of justice charge in the death of James "JJ" Sieger Jr. At her April sentencing, she said she was truly sorry and would continue to carry the guilt and shame of his death.
Bridgeman gave police several different stories about how the boy got hurt in May 2015, once saying he was left alone in the tub and later saying she heard the beating from the other side of the bathroom door but her boyfriend asked her to lie, according to authorities. That made it harder for law enforcement to piece together what happened, prosecutors said.
Bridgeman refused a plea deal in the case last year and pleaded guilty as charged. Her lawyer had asked for probation, saying she wasn't accused of killing the boy and didn't have a criminal record.
But Judge John Morris gave her prison time, calling the case heartbreaking and saying she chose her boyfriend over her child's welfare.
The toddler's relatives have said they asked her to leave the boy behind with his father's family when she left Georgia, but she refused.
Bridgeman moved in with her boyfriend, Joshua Schoenenberger in Layton, Utah. The boy died after the 35-year-old man got angry when the child used his diaper instead of the toilet and stomped on his stomach during a beating, police said. The couple took the child to a hospital where he died of internal injuries.
Schoenenberger has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and other charges.
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