Nov 29, 2007 - Margaret Taylor, 56, a substitute teacher in Lakeland, was sentenced to five years in state prison today for the beating death of her 8-year-old granddaughter.
An earlier trial ended in a hung jury in June and the judge declared a mistrial and scheduled a new trial for Nov. 5. At the trial, her two sons testified that she whipped them with electrical cords, burned one of them with an iron, stabbed one of them in the shoulder, and caused them both to run away from home in their early teens to escape her abuse.
Taylor pleaded no contest Oct 16 to aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm, in exchange for an agreement that she would receive no more than five years in state prison.
Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Nelson testified that LaShauntia’s injuries were not consistent with falling during a roller blading accident. Autopsy pictures showed that the child had bruising on the front, sides and back of her head, as well as dark stripes of bruising across her back. Mottled bruising completely covering her buttocks.LaShauntia Thomas was 8-years-old when she died on Nov. 2, 2004.
