Mom Sentenced in Deaths of 3 Kids

Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention throughout my life and mothers drowning their kids has always been business as usual. Or maybe it's a recent cultural aberration.

Either way, I'm stricken with a deep sense of horror from each incident. Susan Smith, Andrea Yates and Lashuan Harris all murdered their kids and all escaped capital punishment.

Now we have Amanda Hamm, another escapee.

From SunTimes.com

(Clinton, Illinois) A mother convicted in the drowning deaths of her three children after the family car sank in Clinton Lake was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.

Amanda Hamm, 30, was convicted of child endangerment in the deaths of Christopher Hamm, 6, Austin Brown, 3, and Kyleigh Hamm, 23 months. The children were trapped in a car that sank into the lake in 2003.

Hamm's boyfriend, Maurice LaGrone Jr., was previously convicted of murder for the deaths and is serving a life sentence. And, there's more. A 10-year-sentence is not always what it seems.

Defense attorney Steve Skelton said Hamm will be released in 14 months because of time she's already served and other credits.

So, in a little over a year, Amanda Hamm can wash her hands of the whole episode in her life and move on. Maybe she'll find a new husband, start a family ....