RICHMOND, Calif., April 8 (UPI) -- A Richmond, Calif., mother accused of the abuse, torture and murder of her 8-year-old son has pleaded not guilty because of insanity, prosecutors say.
The insanity plea from Teresa Moses, 26, was entered last month in Contra Costa County Superior Court, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.
Prosecutors had originally charged Moses with torture and child abuse in the death of her son Raijon, who was found unresponsive by police in his Richmond home on Oct. 27, 2006. Authorities allege Moses kept the boy locked in his room, beating him repeatedly and restraining him with a nylon cord tied around his wrists, arms and legs.
The charges were upgraded to murder when prosecutors received autopsy results and determined Moses had carried out the alleged torture in "conscious disregard" of the risk to human life, the Chronicle said.
Deputy District Attorney Jerry Chang told the newspaper that court appointed doctors will examine Moses. If they conclude she was insane at the time her son was killed, it will be up to prosecutors to decide whether to have Moses committed at a state hospital, Chang said.
