A stepmother who was sentenced to life without parole after her 6-year-old stepson tragically died while under her supervision has spoken out from jail.
57-year-old Laura Day was convicted of capital murder in 2013 after Taylor Syring died in October 2012. Unbeknownst to her husband she had also been convicted of murdering her ex-boyfriend in 1982.
Day is now in prison for killing the boy and is speaking out in her first TV interview.
Speaking from behind bars, Day maintained her innocence and claimed the boy’s death at a beach in Texas was an accident.
“A tragic accident happened,” she said to ABC News. “I tried to save him.”
The stepmother said that she picked up the child form his school in Corpus Christi.
“He said he wanted to have a picnic on the beach. It was a spur of the moment decision,” she said.
The two grabbed some swimsuits and towels before driving to the beach. she said that she put a lifejacket on Taylor but then removed it later because it was starting to irritate him.
“It was giving him a rash, clearly. I said, ‘If you can show me that you’re OK and you feel safe enough to dive under the waves and you feel comfortable, then I’ll let you swim and play in the shallow water, without your lifejacket,’” she said.
But within moments, Day claims that the child disappeared.
“At first, I didn’t understand. I thought maybe he’d dived under the waves and he was swimming, but then I realized he didn’t surface and I ran in the water to where he was and he was gone… And then I saw him floating, face down,” Day went on.
“I tried to get the water out of his lungs. And it just wasn’t coming out. I didn’t know why. I panicked. And I was disoriented. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
Day drove to a hospital 12 miles away but by the time they arrived, the young boy passed away.
When asked by she took the boy to a hospital instead of calling 911, she said that she “thought paramedics would take too long to get to the beach.”
Reports said that a nearby firehouse with firefighters and EMTs were three miles away.
A few days later, Day was arrested on child endangerment charges.
In January 2013, she was also charged with capital murder.
A drowning expert who looked into conditions on the day of the boy’s death found many anomalies.
Former prosecutor Brittany Jensen said: “When Laura Day stated that Taylor Syring’s body sunk, and then popped up 50 yards to the right, the problem was that was the wrong direction. Based on the conditions and the wind and everything else that day, it would’ve gone left and not right.”
After a six-day trial, Day was sentenced to life in prison without parole. She is now hoping the Texas Court of Criminals will let her have a new trial.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section and SHARE this story with your friends and family!
Recommended Video For You!
“Football Fan Holds Phone Behind His Back So Daughter Can Watch Cartoons”