Woman tells social workers she beat teen, then asks if they’ll take her, officials say
An Ohio woman was sentenced for strangling a then-14-year-old girl after first trying to surrender custody of her, officials said.
The 52-year-old Zanesville woman was sentenced June 17 to two and a half years in prison for felony strangulation, according to a June 20 news release from the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office.
McClatchy News is not naming the woman to protect the identity of the children involved.
Nicholas Fagnano, the woman’s attorney, told McClatchy News on June 20 that his client “maintains her innocence and intends to appeal the conviction on a number of grounds.”
The woman and her husband, who was the biological grandfather to the minors involved, had legal custody of the kids, according to officials.
Their father also lived in the home but did not have custody due to drug use, officials said.
On Dec. 27, the woman went to the Muskingum County Adult and Child Protective Services to surrender custody of one of the minors, the now-15-year-old girl, according to the prosecutor’s office and court records.
When social workers visited the woman’s home the next day, she told them she had beaten one of the kids the night before, according to officials.
“Are you going to take her with you now?” the woman asked the social worker, the prosecutor’s office said.
The girl told authorities that the woman “grabbed her by the throat and pushed her into the wall and that she felt like she was going to pass out,” officials said.
The woman was arrested Feb. 9 on charges of felonious assault, two counts of endangering children, and strangulation, according to court records.
The children’s father, a co-defendant in the case, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for children endangering, according to officials.
Zanesville is about a 55-mile drive east from Columbus.
This story was originally published June 20, 2024 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Woman tells social workers she beat teen, then asks if they’ll take her, officials say."
