NOT SO ‘LOVING’

Mother Who Tried to Drown Son 11 Years Ago Now Accused of His Murder

Sherri Renee Telnas’ son was found unresponsive in an irrigation canal over a decade after she tried to drown him.

A woman who was charged with attempting to kill her son in 2008 is accused of killing the same son 11 years later, the Associated Press reports. Sherri Renee Telnas, 45, was arrested in Porterville, California, after officials found her 12-year-old son and his 7-year-old brother unresponsive in an irrigation canal near a cornfield. An autopsy revealed the preteen, Jackson Telnas, died by drowning. His younger brother is in critical condition at a hospital. According to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, a 911 caller alerted police to the scene after they described Telnas acting strange and taking her sons to a cornfield.

In 2008, the mother attempted to drown 10-month-old Jackson Telnas in a river but took him to the hospital—telling officials “bad thoughts or voices” told her to kill him. At the time, she pleaded no contest to two counts of felony criminal endangerment and was sentenced to the custody of Montana health officials for 10 years. In 2010, judge and psychiatrist deemed her to be a “loving” mother and released Jackson to her care as part of her divorce.