Leatrice Brewer, the Long Island mother who admitted to killing her three children, was deemed not entitled to a piece of her children’s $350,000 estates.
Five years ago, Brewer drowned her three children, ages 1, 5, and 6, in the bathtub of her New Cassel apartment and then attempted suicide unsuccessfully. When arrested, she admitted to her crime, and was found not guilty “due to mental disease or defect.” She then filed a claim for a cut of the $350,000 in wrongful-death settlements paid by Nassau County to the children’s estates.
After filing the claim, Brewer gave birth to a fourth child at Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center in New Hampton. The circumstances revolving around how Brewer became pregnant and the identity of the father are both unknown. The father of two of the three children Brewer killed was contacted to find an appropriate placement for her newborn.
The court found that though Brewer was found to be not guilty, she is not entitled to any of her children’s estates. The case hinged on the Son of Sam Law, which prevents criminals from profiting on their crimes.
"It is one thing to say that the state should not imprison one who was insane when she committed the murder," said Judge Edward McCarty in court on Wednesday. "It is quite another to say that the insane murderer can financially profit from her crime."
Brewer claimed that her main reasoning for submitting the claim was that the fathers’ of her children do not deserve the money. It is unknown if the fathers abandoned their children prior to their deaths.
Brewer continues to remain incarcerated at the psychiatric facility.
[Source: NBC]