''Baby Lollipops'' killer, Fla. mother, receives death penalty in 1990 killing of todller
(CBS/WFOR) MIAMI - Florida mother Ana Maria Cardona, better known as the "Baby Lollipops" killer, was sentenced to death Friday for the 1990 death of her 3-year-old son.
A jury recommended the death penalty for Cardona last year after she was found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated abuse in the beating death of her son Lazaro Figueroa, reports CBS station WFOR.
The station reports that Cardona made a statement at the sentencing saying that she wished her son "could have been blessed with a better mother, one who would have protected him and always been there for him."
She added, "In these 21 years, I have matured and I'm a different woman because God changed my life. Judge, I don't want to die," and said she wanted to live for her three other children.
Judge Reemberto Diaz was not swayed and said that Cardona did not accept responsibility for her role in her son's death, reports WFOR.
Cardona had been sentenced to death previously.
Cardona's first conviction in 1992 was set aside because of procedural problems in the first trial. After hearing the evidence against her for the second time, a new jury again found her guilty earlier this year.
Toddler Lazaro Figueroa was killed in November of 1990. His body was found dumped beneath a hedge in the yard of a Miami Beach home. The boy had been starved, beaten and burned. He was only 18 pounds when he was murdered, about half of what he should have weighed.
The boy, whose identity was not known when his body was discovered, was given the name "Baby Lollipops" because of the tiny white t-shirt he was wearing with lollipops on the front.
Cardona's death sentence will be sent to the Florida Supreme Court on appeal.
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