Fifty years. That’s how long a Florida mom will spend behind bars for shaking her 3-month-old son to death after his cries interrupted her FarmVille game on Facebook.
A half century in prison for killing an innocent baby. Some say it’s not enough.
Twenty-two-year-old Alexandra Tobias was given the sentence just last week as a judge wrapped up her murder case, which began last October. A couple of months ago the mom pleaded guilty to killing her infant son with her bare hands, and then lying to authorities to cover up his death.
According to court records, Tobias told investigators she became angry because her son was crying while she was playing a computer game called FarmVille on Facebook. The boy’s mother went on to reveal that she shook the baby, smoked a cigarette to compose herself, and then shook him again before smashing his head against a computer monitor.
While Tobias’s story got ample media coverage, apparently it did nothing to influence Shannon Johnson. The 34-year-old mom from Colorado is now facing the same fate as Tobias after she left her 13-month-old son in the bathtub while she played the Facebook game Cafe World. The boy was reportedly found slumped over face down in the bathwater making “gurgling” sounds, and was later pronounced dead from drowning.
Authorities arrested Johnson last month for child abuse resulting in death. If convicted the mom could face up to 48 years in prison.
Two moms, two dead babies, one social networking site; a true crime of our times.
Obviously, Facebook did not kill these innocent, young children; rather, poor judgment on the parts of their mothers did that. Still, you have to know that the folks at Facebook are not thrilled that their bread and butter is being linked to these babies’ deaths.
Johnson was reportedly “unemotional” when she told Colorado authorities that she left her baby son in the bathtub and went into another room to play Cafe World, check in with friends on her Facebook page and watch videos on the site. She also admitted she frequently left the boy unattended in the bathtub because he was “independent,” he “liked to be left alone,” and she didn’t want him to be a “mama’s boy.”
You can’t blame that warped mentality on Facebook, or can you?
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