An Illinois mother, Sarah Safranek, admitted guilt last week to the horrific crime of smothering her 7-year-old son back in 2021. Her admission comes after several attempts by her legal team to challenge the evidence against her were unsuccessful.

The 38-year-old Safranek has been handed a 35-year prison sentence, as reported by WIFR. Judge Anthony Peska, who presided over the case, mandated that she serve the entirety of her sentence before being subjected to three years of mandatory supervised release.

In a pivotal moment earlier, Safranek had initially pleaded guilty to the murder of Nathaniel Burton in March 2024, only to later retract her plea. Nonetheless, the weight of the evidence led her to ultimately admit to the crime.

The prosecution outlined the tragic events of February 17, 2021, when Safranek suffocated young Burton. Although he was rushed to a hospital, he succumbed to his injuries the same day, with a ruptured liver listed among the causes of his death, according to court documents.

The case documents, accessible here, illuminate the defense’s efforts to block witness testimonies and suppress incriminating internet searches conducted by Safranek. On the day of her son’s death, she had conducted online searches about the duration of child death investigations and guides on investigating child abuse, providing a chilling insight into her state of mind.

At the end of 2020, she searched how to kill someone with a voodoo doll and how to buy arsenic online. On November 1, 2020, she search “what is it called when a parent is obsessed with the thought of killing their child” and other searches related to killing children. In the summer, she made similar searches.

Then there was witness testimony, including from Nathaniel’s paternal grandmother and his 18-year-old half sister, both of whom said that Nathaniel told them of repeated attempts by his mother to kill him.

“Mama is going to kill me,” the grandmother said, quoting the boy. “Mama would take the pillow and hold it,” saying he told her couldn’t breathe whenever she did it. In another instance, Nathaniel told his grandmother that his other tried to drown him in the bath. Safranek denied what the boy said and told the grandmother he was lying.

The grandmother said she tried contacting child services, but never heard back from them.

The documents — an appeals court ruling from earlier this summer — also detail videos of some of Nathaniel’s statements which were ultimately excluded from evidence that could be shown to a jury.