SE Kan. woman sentenced for toddler’s death

A southeast Kansas woman has been sentenced to slightly more than five years in prison for the strangulation death of her toddler son in the straps of a safety seat.

The Joplin Globe reports 29-year-old Cara M. Lloyd was sentenced Tuesday in Crawford County District Court. The judge gave her credit for 320 days she has already spent in Jail, reducing her 61-month sentence by nearly a year.

The Pittsburg woman’s son, Cory Jones Jr., was 13 months old when he was strangled by the straps of his child safety seat. The death occurred in October 2011 while Jones and her children were at a friend’s home in Frontenac.

Jones was initially charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty in October to voluntary manslaughter.