Mum sentenced to jail after pouring vodka into disabled son’s feeding tube

A mum has been sentenced to jail after being accused of killing her disabled son by pouring vodka into his feeding tube.

Melissa Robitille was allegedly trying to quiet her son, Isaac, by giving him the alcohol in 2014. The 13-year-old died soon after from alcohol poisoning. The Vermont woman has received a sentence of four to 12 years imprisonment. WCAX-TV reported that Robitille and her boyfriend, Walter Richters, poured the vodka into her son's feeding tube. Richters is currently serving a three-year sentence for manslaughter. Isaac's former foster mum, Lottie Allen, said that the teenager was a "smart, strong young man."

"He (...) adapted to all of his imperfections. "He knew and could tell everyone that touched him by a sign that they gave him."

Robitille's lawyer, Rob Sussman, told the judge that his client's actions were "not a malicious offence."

"This is not a reckless indifference to human safety offence. This was a tragic mistake."

Image via Hardwick police department.