Mother sentenced for drowning autistic son

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SAN DIEGO, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A San Diego judge sentenced Patricia Corby, who drowned her 4-year-old autistic son, to 15 years to life in prison.

At her sentencing Monday, family members shouted at Corby, who pleaded guilty in late December to second-degree murder for killing her son Daniel last March, U-T San Diego reported.

"You are a loathsome person, and you deserve everything you get," Duane Corby, the boy's father, said.

U-T San Diego said Daniel's body was found in the back seat of Corby's sport utility vehicle after she drove to a San Diego police station and told police she had killed her son.

U-T San Diego said she later told an investigator her entire life was dedicated to caring for her son. Testimony revealed she held her son under water in the bathroom.

Deputy Public Defender Mel Epley said Corby was extremely depressed and attempted to kill herself after drowning her son, just a week after his fourth birthday.