California mom pleads guilty to drowning 4-year-old autistic son

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Patricia Corby sometimes cried and kept her head down during a preliminary hearing in San Diego County Superior Court, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012.

/ KFMB

(CBS/AP) SAN DIEGO - A San Diego-area mother pleaded guilty Thursday to drowning her 4-year-old autistic son in a bathtub, the San Diego Union Tribune reports.

On March 31, 37-year-old Patricia Corby drove to a San Diego police station and told authorities she had killed her son, Daniel, by filling a bathtub and holding the boy under water until he died.

Police found the boy's lifeless body, still wet, wrapped in a blanket in her car's back seat. After her arrest, Corby told authorities that she had no life because her existence was dedicated to her son.

She also tried to drown herself but failed.

She faces 15 years to life in prison at a Jan. 28 sentencing hearing.

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by valopinion December 31, 2012 12:40 PM EST: txsunshyne.....it may not be the government or society's responsibility to take care of people who are overwhelmed with their mentally challenged children, but now this 4 year old child is dead and his mother will be dealt with by "our society and our government" at the cost of many, many thousands of dollars over the period of many, many years of her confinement. How much cheaper do you think intervention would have been, not to mention the fact that that boy would still be alive???? What say you now, genius???; Reply to this comment


by jmrtsus December 29, 2012 9:41 PM EST: 1 in 80 children are born autistic in the USA. If you IDIOTS out there check you will find NO studies that show autistic children/adults are more violent than others. Get off this bus....its full of uninformed idiots!; Reply to this comment

by CuriousServant December 28, 2012 2:06 PM EST

This is another side to the mental health issue.

This woman was desperate. She needed support. Her son was also in need of mental health services. There should have been opportunities for both of them.

Some are quite vocal over the threats to the 2nd Amendment after Newtown, that young man and his mother need mental health support. The woman who pushed the man in front of an oncoming subway train in New York also needed mental health services (as did the gentleman a month or so ago).

We have people linking under bridges and using expense prison beds when they also needed mental health support.

If we were a society which took care of its weakest members, educated its young fully, sought to make each individual as productive, as happy, as much a part of society as we could, then we would see fewer tragedies, less calls for gun control, smaller budgets for prisons, citizens with higher incomes, and more joy and kindness.

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by navysubman December 28, 2012 2:53 PM EST: CuriousServant, thank you for a sane comment. Too many only seek to judge and not to consider how others are forced to live.


by txsunshyne December 28, 2012 3:02 PM EST: It's not the government NOR society's responsibility!


by pak31 December 28, 2012 9:27 PM EST: I agree but what did her husband do? He knew she was overwhelmed. What ever happened to people talking to each other, communicating? Making things work? Her husband knew she wanted Daniel to be normal and that she was always wanting more. I know you don't think your wife would kill your child but if someone is not well, they shouldn't be taking care of a child.

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California mom pleads guilty to drowning 4-year-old autistic son

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