A mother convicted of beating her adopted Russian-born son to death with wooden spoons and a rubber spatula was sentenced Monday to 22 years in prison despite her husband’s tearful plea for leniency.
“This is absolutely wrong,” said David Polreis, his voice breaking.
David and Renee Polreis had adopted their son, David, from a Russian orphanage in 1995.
Police said she beat the 2-year-old Feb. 10, 1996, then called her brother, a friend, therapists and finally paramedics. David died three hours later at a hospital.
Police found two broken wooden spoons wrapped in a blood-soaked diaper.
Two therapists testified for the prosecution that Renee Polreis told them she had hurt David because she “just lost it.”
The defense claimed David died of pneumonia. It also contended the boy suffered reactive attachment disorder, which causes rages during which children injure themselves. Witnesses testified the child would bang his head and go into trances.
