Mom who tried
to kill son enters pleaThe Palolo woman admits attempted
manslaughter instead of attempted murder
A Palolo woman has pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter for attempting to drown her 9-year-old son in the bathtub.
Marlene Mexia, 46, had been charged with second-degree attempted murder, punishable by life with the possibility of parole, for the July 29 incident. Her attorney said she had been suffering from extreme mental and emotional disturbance.
Under a plea agreement accepted yesterday by Circuit Judge Derrick Chan, Mexia agreed to enter a plea to the lesser charge in exchange for serving 10 years on probation.
Had the court not accepted the agreement, the judge had the discretion to sentence her to 20 years' imprisonment.
Mexia will be sentenced June 18.
Mexia's plea comes on the heels of reports by three court-appointed experts who found that she suffered from a mental illness that made her incapable of knowing right from wrong or controlling her actions at the time.
Based on their determination, the defense was prepared to assert at trial that she was not guilty by reason of insanity.
Defense attorney Victor Bakke said they elected to go with the "temporary insanity" or "extreme mental and emotional disturbance" defense because the issues were the same, and they ran the risk of the jury not buying the insanity argument.
Bakke said Mexia has not told him what caused her to try to drown her son, but her family has a history of mental illness and she has seen professionals in the past.
"There was a long period where she wasn't seeing anybody and not using medication, and then this incident happened," he said.
"It goes way back in her family to her great-grandfather killing his family back in Michigan in the '50s," Bakke added.
Deputy Prosecutor Dan Oyasato called the plea agreement "the most just and most appropriate result for this case."
"When you have a young child who's been emotionally damaged by a case of this nature, that has to be one of the primary considerations in how the case will be resolved," he said.
Another reason the state reached an agreement is that had Mexia gone to trial and a jury acquitted her by reason of insanity, she likely would have been returned to the Hawaii State Hospital and subsequently released into the public, where the state would have had less control over the conditions of her release, Oyasato said.
The state's primary objective was to make sure that by the time Mexia completes her probation, her son will be at least 18, Oyasato said.
Meanwhile, Mexia is to be returned to the State Hospital so that medical professionals can begin evaluating her and set up a treatment plan before she is sentenced, Bakke said.
If Mexia does not have a treatment plan in place at the time of sentencing, she will have to remain in custody until one is approved for her.
Bakke said she will likely be placed in a group home or halfway house where she can be visited by her husband and son.
The boy has recovered and has been living with his father, Michael Mexia, who was not at home when the incident occurred. Mexia declined comment after the hearing.
On July 23, police found the Mexias' son floating in the bathtub with red marks around his neck and having trouble breathing. Officers went to the home after Marlene Mexia apparently called 911 and told the operator she had drowned her son.