PHOENIX — An Arizona woman who was convicted in her young son’s disappearance nearly three years ago was sentenced Friday to five years and three months in prison after tearfully telling the judge she thought she deserved the maximum of 9 1/2 years.
Elizabeth Johnson, 26, was convicted in October of custodial interference and unlawful imprisonment in the Christmastime 2009 disappearance of her then-8-month-old son, Gabriel. The jury failed to reach a verdict on a kidnapping charge - the most serious count against her.
Judge Joseph Kreamer of the Maricopa County Superior Court also sentenced Johnson to four years of probation when she is released. She’ll receive credit toward her prison sentence for the nearly three years that she has been in jail since her arrest.
Kreamer could have sentenced her to 9 1/2 years but said he took into account her troubled childhood and mental instability, agreeing with a psychologist who testified that she needs treatment.
Authorities said Johnson initially told the boy’s father, Logan McQueary, that shekilled Gabriel and dumped him in a trash bin, but she later recanted and told police that she gave the infant to a couple at a San Antonio park.
She never provided the couple’s names and refused to do so during Friday’s hearing.
Prosecutor Angela Andrews offered to only seek probation if Johnson would tell them where Gabriel is, not just “vague statements, but his actual physical whereabouts.”
After the hearing, Andrews said no one knows but Johnson if Gabriel, who would have turned 3 this past April, is still alive.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 12/09/2012