Inset: Samantha Hardiman (Lucas County Jail). Background: The home where Hardiman starved her son to death (WTVG).
An Ohio mother is headed to prison for at least 15 years after she pleaded guilty to the murder of her 7-year-old special needs son who weighed just 19 pounds when he was found dead in a playpen.
Samantha Hardiman, 30, will spend 15 years to life in prison for the death of young Kristopher Snyder in Toledo, the Lucas County Prosecutor”s Office said. Hardiman pleaded guilty earlier this month to murder. As part of the plea deal, five other charges — including involuntary manslaughter and endangering children — were dismissed.
Toledo cops responded on June 2, 2023, to a home in the 1700 block of Freeman Street, and found Kristopher “deceased and alone in a playpen.” Cops noted he was “extremely emaciated” with pale skin.
A medical examiner last year determined the boy’s death was a homicide from “malnutrition and dehydration associated with cerebral palsy, with epilepsy as another significant condition.”
Investigators learned that Kristopher hadn’t seen a doctor in person for roughly four years. His mother only had the boy go to telehealth appointments. Cops found “ample food” in the home along with marijuana and booze. She also painted the windows black in order to conceal the horrific living conditions in the home.
“The defendant had numerous free therapy opportunities available to help Kristopher develop the muscles he needed to eat and sit up,” Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney Julia R. Bates said in a statement. “Instead of accepting that help or providing a feeding tube, she neglected her son and left him alone in a room.”
Hardiman will be up for parole after 15 years, but prosecutors will oppose her release.
Her boyfriend, 29-year-old Joshua Mulvey, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and is slated to go on trial on May 12.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the 19 pounds Kristopher weighed is significantly less than the average weight of a healthy 1-year-old boy, let alone a 7-year-old.
The prosecution stated at a hearing after his arrest that Mulvey had lived in the home with Kristopher and his mother for about two years, meaning he owed the child a “basic duty to make sure his basic nutritional needs were met,” the Toledo Blade reported.
Mulvey formally pleaded not guilty to the charges through his court-appointed public defender, Dmitry Tatarko.
“I do not think I should be here in the first place, but that’s for another day,” Mulvey told the court, adding, “I will be a part of this process. I need answers myself.”
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
