A New York woman who smothered her toddler son to death inside a Manhattan restaurant will spend 18 years in prison, despite her cries of being sorry for the atrocious act.
People reports that on March 30, 2015, Latisha Fisher took her 1-year-old son, Gavriel, to the bathroom inside the 5 Boro Burger restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, where she put him on her lap, pinched his nose and cupped his mouth until the little boy stopped breathing. When paramedics arrived to the scene, Fisher said that “the devil made her put him to sleep.”
Paramedics noted that Gavriel had blue lips and was foaming from the nose when they arrived.
#NYPD take Latisha Fisher for booking for death of her 1yr old son. He was found in bathroom of #5BoroBurger pic.twitter.com/rpSiES8PXA
— Rocco Vertuccio (@RoccoNY1) March 31, 2015
Court records indicate that Fisher was diagnosed with severe paranoid schizophrenia in 2011, while she served three months for a previous crime at Riker’s Island prison. Prior to Gavriel’s birth, Fisher had been involve in numerous violent acts, including setting her mother’s boyfriend on fire (he survived), attempted murder on her aunt, and dousing her former boyfriend hot oil during their breakup.
“It’s really unquestionable she has a mental illness,” her lawyer, Bryan Konoski, said, according to the New York Times. “The ultimate question is whether she knew or understood that what she did was wrong.”
Woman Who Smothered 1-Year-Old Son in Bathroom Gets 18-Year Sentence: Latisha Fisher accepted a… https://t.co/E7iye4w8Az https://t.co/JUXb6c4H9D
— News Channel NYC (@NewsChannelNYC) November 20, 2017
The boy’s father, Luis Ortiz Jr., 36, testified in court that the death of his son sent him into severe depression, which ultimately costed him his job and ability to sleep at night. He said he blamed himself since he turned down an invite to join Fisher and the boy at the restaurant on the day in question.
“I should have gone with him that day.”
Fisher pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month, as part of plea deal worked out between her lawyer and prosecutors. Shortly before Justice Gregory Carro of State Supreme Court in Manhattan told Fisher her sentence, she cried out that she loved her boy and was sorry for what she did.
In addition to 18 years behind bars, Fisher must remain on 10 years of supervised probation upon her release.
[Feature Photo: Family Handout]
