Pennsylvania Mother Sentenced in Son's House Fire Death

Oct. 9, 2008
?Not a day goes by that I don?t think of the tragedy,? said Mia Marshman, 29.

PITTSBURGH --

Tears streamed down the face of a Larimer mother as she asked the judge for mercy before sentencing her for the death of her six-year-old son Isaiah, who died in a house fire in March.

Not a day goes by that I dont think of the tragedy, said Mia Marshman, 29, who pleaded guilty to the crime in September. Each day I feel the emptiness. Its something I will have to live with every day of my life.

Judge John Zottola sentenced her no less than one year and no more than two years in jail for the manslaughter of her son and endangering the welfare of her two small children.

Marshman escaped the house fire with one of her other children, an 8-month-old baby, and firefighters rescued her other child.

At todays sentencing, relatives told the judge Marshman is an alcoholic who needs help not life in prison.

She was also sentenced to five years of probation and drug and alcohol treatment, which she has already started.

Police said Marshman had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana when she left a pot of grease on the stove, which sparked the March 4 fire after the family had gone to bed.

Her son Isaiah was found unresponsive after the fire had been extinguished. He later died of smoke inhalation at a hospital.

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