TOLEDO, OH- A monster who left her 7-year-old special needs son to die, weighing only 19 pounds, has learned her fate, Law & Crime reports.
Samantha Hardiman, 30, was sentenced to at least 15 years in prison for the death of her son, Kristopher Snyder, who was found dead in a playpen, the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office said.
The office announced that on June 2, 2023, the Toledo Police Department learneda bout a deceased child inside a Toledo home. Responding officers found Kristopher deceased and alone in a playpen.
“He was extremely emaciated, had pale skin, and weighed 19 pounds at the time of his death,” the office said in a release.
“Investigators determined [that] Kristopher’s last in-person medical appointment occurred in 2019. Hardiman then chose telehealth appointments and painted the home’s windows black to conceal the living conditions from outside. Investigators found ample food in the home along with alcohol and marijuana,” the release continued.
Hardiman pleaded guilty earlier this month to murder. As part of the plea deal, five other charges, including manslaughter and endangering children, were dismissed.
A medical examiner determined Kristopher died from “malnutrition and dehydration associated with cerebral palsy, with epilepsy as another significant condition.”
“The defendant had numerous free therapy opportunities available to help Kristopher develop the muscles he needed to eat and sit up,” Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney Julia R. Bates said in a statement. “Instead of accepting that help or providing a feeding tube, she neglected her son and left him alone in a room.”
Hardiman must serve a minimum of 15 years before becoming eligible for parole, but prosecutors indicated they will oppose her release.
Hardiman’s boyfriend, Joshua Mulvey, 29, is charged with involuntary manslaughter. He is slated to go on trial on May 12.
Law & Crime previously reported that Kristopher, at only 19 pounds, was well below the average weight of a healthy one-year-old boy.
After Mulvey’s arrest, prosecutors said that he had lived at the home with Hardiman and Kristopher for about two years, which prosecutors said meant he owed the child “a basic duty to make sure his basic nutritional needs were met,” The Toledo Blade reported.
Mulvey has pleaded not guilty to the charges via his court-appointed public defender, Dmitry Tatarko.
“I do not think I should be here in the first place, but that’s for another day,” Mulvey told the court. “I will be a part of this process. I need answers myself.”
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