Maine mother gets 13 years for baby’s beating death

A Maine woman who told investigators that she must have ‘blacked out’ after drinking multiple shots of liquor and smoking marijuana on the night of her infant son’s death has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Miranda Hopkins, 32, was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of her son Jaxson and sentenced on Wednesday in Belfast.

Following 13 years in prison, Hopkins was given four years of probation, during which she wil be required to refrain from using drugs or alcohol. 

She will head to prison on December 26 after being allowed to spend Christmas with her father, who is in poor health. 

Miranda Hopkins (pictured), who told investigators that she must have ‘blacked out’ after drinking multiple shots of liquor and smoking marijuana on the night of her infant son’s death, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison

She was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of her son Jaxson and sentenced on Wednesday in Belfast. Hopkins said she still doesn't know how the seven-week-old infant died in January. Hopkins is pictured in court last month 

She was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of her son Jaxson and sentenced on Wednesday in Belfast. Hopkins said she still doesn’t know how the seven-week-old infant died in January. Hopkins is pictured in court last month 

Hopkins will be placed under house arrest at her cousin’s home, according to Bangor Daily News.

Her attorney, Christopher MacLean, said he has filed a notice of appeal in the case, but he may or may not follow through with the appeal because he feels the trial was handled fairly by the court. 

Hopkins said she still doesn’t know how seven-week-old Jaxson died in January, but she previously told police that one of her two autistic sons may have been responsible.

Jaxson (pictured) suffered from skull fractures, 15 broken ribs, a broken right arm, and cuts and bruises from head to toe

Jaxson (pictured) suffered from skull fractures, 15 broken ribs, a broken right arm, and cuts and bruises from head to toe

Jaxson suffered extensive injuries, including skull fractures, 15 broken ribs, a broken right arm, and cuts and bruises from head to toe. 

Police have said that Hopkins had been drinking whisky and told investigators that she must have ‘blacked out’. 

But she had previously told police that one of her two autistic sons, aged six and eight, may have been responsible.

In multiple interviews, Hopkins reportedly told authorities that she was co-sleeping with Jaxson when she woke up with gall bladder pain in the middle of the night, according to the Bangor Daily News. 

Hopkins said she had checked on her other two sons, who share a bedroom in the home, before checking on Jaxson. 

But a few hours later, she said she woke up to find her baby cold and ‘beat to hell’. The baby’s cause of death was listed as blunt force head injuries.

At the time, Hopkins claimed that one of her sons, likely the eight-year-old, must have climbed onto the bed, and either crushed or beat Jaxson without her hearing or feeling anything.

But much of this initial story was a lie, she told jurors last month.

‘I’d been drinking, I’d passed out, and my baby was killed,’ she told jurors in November. ‘I was scared of what might happen.’

Hopkins told jurors at the time that she didn’t have much of a dinner before drinking several shots of whisky and smoking marijuana.

She said she did ‘pass out’ in her older sons’ bedroom while putting them to bed while Jaxson was in his ‘bouncy chair’ in the living room.

Police said Hopkins had been drinking whisky and told investigators that she must have 'blacked out'. She'spictured in court in November 

Police said Hopkins had been drinking whisky and told investigators that she must have ‘blacked out’. She’spictured in court in November 

Hopkins (pictured) claimed that one of her autistic sons, likely the eight-year-old, must have climbed onto the bed, and either crushed or beat Jaxson without her hearing or feeling anything

Miranda Hopkins

Hopkins (pictured) claimed that one of her autistic sons, likely the eight-year-old, must have climbed onto the bed, and either crushed or beat Jaxson without her hearing or feeling anything 

But when she woke up in pain that night, she checked on her older sons, but didn’t check on Jaxson, which contradicts her initial story.

She said she awoke a few hours later to find Jaxson dead in her bed, between her and her wall, and her eldest son asleep on the couch. 

Hopkins said last month that she initially lied to police because she feared her sons would be taken away from her. Her older sons have since moved in with a relative. 

The defense initially argued that the boys would have been capable of seriously harming their sibling.

According to the defense, the six-year-old had shown aggressive tendencies against other children in the past. 

Despite her son’s horrific injuries, Hopkins said she never heard cries, a scuffle, or the loud vocalizations that her autistic sons make when they’re agitated or excited. 



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