Jessica Dutro was sentenced to life in prison for the 2013 murder of her 4 year old son Zachary because she thought he might be gay. Dutro was convicted last month along with her boyfriend Brian Canady. Dutro will be eligible for parole and Canady will only have to serve 12 ½ years for his part in the horrific murder. Judge Don Letournea addressed Dutro at the sentencing saying, “Parents are supposed to protect their children. And you were the most dangerous thing in your kid’s lives.” Dutro’s remaining three children will remain with family while she is incarcerated. The three children were neglected and “lacked any sense of joy”, according to caregivers.
QUEERTY.com reports:
The abusive mother of four was convicted earlier this month after courtroom testimony revealed she had conspired with Canady to inflict bodily harm on her four-year-old son Zachary, after she instructed Canady to “do some work on him.” In a series of Facebook messages presented in court, Dutro reportedly told Canady she suspected her son of being gay because “he walks and talks like it. Ugh.” Zachary reportedly died from a combination of blunt-force trauma and failure to seek medical attention immediately after the attack. Trauma nurses noted that when the family finally arrived at the hospital, Zachary was “essentially dead,” and his three-year-old brother and seven-year-old sister were covered in bruises.
Zachary was only 4 years old. He was brutally beaten and murdered at the hands of his own mother and her boyfriend, because she simply thought he was gay. The amount of anger and lack of knowledge needed to carry out such a brutal crime, is beyond the realm of reality. GLAAD's President, Sarah Kate Ellis, told Zach's story at the 25th annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles.