Mother who murdered her kid while hiking outside of Las Vegas received a minimum jail term of 28 year

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (702 Times, NV Globe) – A mother who murdered her 7-year-old autistic son last year was sentenced to 28 years to life in jail on Thursday morning.

Samantha Moreno-Rodriguez, 36, pled guilty earlier this year to homicide and child abuse, neglect, or endangerment resulting in serious bodily damage.

She was sentenced to life in prison for murder and 8 to 20 years in prison for child abuse resulting in serious bodily damage. The two sentences will be served consecutively, and she will be eligible for parole after 20 years.

Moreno-sentencing Rodriguez’s date was moved out to Thursday morning after she failed to appear in court on Wednesday.

Liam Husted, her son, was murdered and his nude corpse was discarded beside a path in Mountain Springs, near Las Vegas. According to authorities, Husted was discovered by hikers few feet off the route under a bush on May 28, 2021.

Moreno-Rodriguez and Liam were trekking on the path when she shoved him, forcing him to fall and strike his head, according to investigators.

“She also fell throughout this procedure, and then when Liam fell and struck his head and started screaming, top of his lungs, louder than she had ever heard him scream before, and she wasn’t sure how to stop him from sobbing,” she later told authorities.

A prosecutor told a grand jury that she strangled and murdered him before removing his clothing.

“Samantha indicated that she had watched television crime shows and thought that by removing his clothing, it would make it more difficult to associate him with her after she left the area,” the investigator said.

Liam’s clothing were never discovered.

Moreno-Rodriguez was eventually detained in Denver on June 8 while eating breakfast with a man she met days previously, according to authorities.

Before Moreno-Rodriguez was convicted, Liam’s father spoke of his love for his son and the consequences of his son’s death.

“My son was taken away by his own mother, a helpless child dependent on her for care and nurturing. Instead, he became a victim of her careless and self-centered actions… determined to start a new life in another state as if it never happened.

“I will never know the boy, teenager, and man a dad is supposed to know. The window in my truck still has his tiny fingerprints behind his seat. My pain is too much to wash it… I think about all the pain he was in and how terrified he was.”