Colorado Springs mother sentenced to 30 years in prison after baby dies from neglect
UPDATE: Donica Sheelah Mirbal, the mother accused of killing her son in 2017 due to starvation has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Sentencing concluded Tuesday with Judge Marla Prudek calling Zayden Ostrander’s death a “prolonged, horrible death to suffer.”
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A Colorado Springs woman has pleaded guilty to felony child abuse after her infant son died due to prolonged neglect.
According to the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Donica Sheelah Mirabal entered a guilty plea for the third-degree felony Wednesday. She faces between eight and 32 years in prison when she’s sentenced, which will be on Nov. 30.
Six-week-old Zayden Ostrander died from neglect after not being fed for a long period of time. He was found dead on an apartment floor in Feb. 2017. One Colorado Springs Fire Department paramedic said Zayden looked like “something out of an Auschwitz movie” and that he was basically “skin and bones.”
Mirabal was originally charged with murder.
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The arrest affidavits detailing the gruesome death of a six-week-old boy in Colorado Springs and the arrest of his parents were released on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the affidavits, the coroner told authorities that the baby, Zayden, had died due to “prolonged, intentional neglect/lack of care on the part of the caretaker(s).”
When emergency responders arrived at the Solar Vista Apartments on February 28, they found the infant dead on the floor inside one of the apartments. Next to the baby, there appeared to be two forms of bodily function: one red and one yellow.
The baby also appeared to be very underweight. A Colorado Springs Fire Department paramedic described the baby as “something out of an Auschwitz movie” and that he was basically “skin and bones.”
When authorities spoke with the mother, Donica Mirabal, she said that since leaving the hospital with Zayden, he seemed to get “sicker and sicker.” She said that she never bonded with the baby and that she had no attachment to him. Mirabal also admitted that in the days leading up to Zayden’s death she never took him to the hospital because she did not have a vehicle.
On February 26, Zayden began feeling clammy and cold. Zayden also only ate about five times that day and did not have any bowel movements.
And on February 27, Zayden had stopped eating and was having a hard time staying awake. Mirabal said he would open his mouth as if to cry but no sound would come out.
The day of Zayden’s death, Mirabal noticed that he was pale and would go limp when she would hold him. She then laid Zayden in a bassinet in her bedroom while she slept on the couch. At around 5:30 p.m., Mirabal realized he was dead.
When speaking with the father, John Ostrander, police discovered that the baby had weight loss issues after he was born. Apparently, while Mirabal was pregnant, she continued to smoke marijuana and that she only had a checkup with the doctor three times. Zayden even tested positive for THC.
READ MORE: Parents arrested after infant found dead in Colorado Springs
Officers asked Ostrander if he ever fed Zayden or changed his diaper. His response was that he was the “breadwinner” and that Mirabal’s job was to raise the children.
They also asked if he had ever taken Zayden to the hospital after he was born, and Ostrander responded with “of course not.”
Authorities also spoke to Mirabal’s parents. The mother told police that she noticed that Zayden was wearing the same clothes he was in when she saw him three days prior. She added that she had contacted DHS at the beginning of February, hoping that it would encourage the parents to take classes.
DHS did investigate Ostrander and Mirabal on February 23. The caseworker stated that Zayden appeared to be “alert” and “had good color” on his face.
Ostrander and Mirabal were arrested on Monday for First Degree Murder and Child Abuse Resulting in Death.
