A Colorado mother who strangled her 2-month-old son while suffering from postpartum psychosis was sentenced this week to 40 years in prison.
Anna Louise Englund reached a deal with Boulder County prosecutors to plead guilty to second degree murder, according to the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, and her original charges of first degree murder and first degree murder of a victim under 12 by a person in a position of trust were dropped. The original charges would have carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Witnesses called police for a welfare check in June 2023 after Englund snuck out of the house with her newborn, Miles Basellio, and drove away in a car, as CrimeOnline reported. She was found hours later in a hospital parking lot. The baby was rushed inside but was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.
Prosecutors said she strangled the baby shortly after leaving the house and then drove around for hours before going to the same hospital where she had sought treatment for postpartum difficulties on at least two occasions, the baby’s father said.
“This guilty plea and lengthy sentence is the right result in this very sad case,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty said in a statement. “It is heartbreaking to acknowledge the immense emotional toll on the baby’s father and family, as well as all the police officers who desperately tried to prevent this tragic murder. Our prosecution team worked hard to ensure that we were able to secure the right outcome for this defendant, which is a very lengthy sentence to state prison.”
Englund’s attorney, Laren Bennett, told the court during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing that the state’s mental health care system “failed both Ms. Englund and her infant son,” according to the Daily Camera. Englund “loved her son and family” and “experiences a great sense of regret and remorse for what happened,” Bennett said.
Englund told the court that she had “bizarre auditory and visual hallucinations” after the baby’s birth. “I didn’t sleep,” she said, “then I started to have violent visual hallucinations.”
Englund said her husband “kept our son safe” in the beginning.
“He was very cautious about not leaving [Miles] with me,” she said. “I convinced him and myself that I was OK but I was still in psychosis. I’m so sorry I took fatherhood away from him and left a hole in his life.”
It’s not clear if Englund will receive mental health care while she serves her state prison sentence.
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[Featured image: Anna Englund/Facebook]
