Mother Facing Life Term For Super-Gluing 2-Year-Old Daughter’s Hands To Wall

Elizabeth Escalona, a mother of five who pleaded guilty to gluing her 2-year-old daughter to a wall and beating her into a coma, is to be sentenced on Tuesday. The 23-year-old could face a life sentence for her crime.

The Texas mother beat her daughter, Jocelyn Cedillo, after the toddler had issues with potty training. Jocelyn remained in a coma for two days after the incident, and also suffered from brain swelling, broken bones, swollen intestines, an injured liver and bruised lungs. Mercifully, the youngster eventually made a full recovery.

Elizabeth Escalona appeared in a Dallas County, Texas court on Monday as prosecution witnesses – including her mother and a pediatrician who had cared for the Jocelyn – testified at her sentencing hearing. The team prosecuting Escalona showed the court images of the toddler’s badly bruised body, forehead and hands.

Dr. Amy Barton, a child abuse pediatrician at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, fought back tears as she took to the stand and told the court:

“The entire picture was very shocking. I see a lot of children, and this was one of the most shocking cases that I have seen.”

The defendant’s mother, Oefelia Escalona, who took her granddaughter to the hospital, was unable to finish her testimony without repeatedly breaking down.

Jocelyn Cedillo was just shy of her third birthday in September 2011 when Elizabeth Escalona used a powerful adhesive to glue her hands to a wall and beat her. The Dallas County district attorney’s office reported that her three other children witnessed the abuse; Escalona has since given birth to a fifth child.

Fearful that Escalona could cause further harm to her children, prosecutors are seeking a prison term of 45 years for the mother.