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Inset: Amy S. Laszkiewicz (Waukesha County Jail). Background: The residence where Laszkiewicz allegedly allowed her daughter to starve to death in Pewaukee, Wisc. (Google Maps).
A 53-year-old mother in Wisconsin will spend decades behind bars for starving her daughter with autism to death, in part because she did not want to “upset” the victim by addressing her weight.
Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael O. Bohren on Thursday ordered Amy S. Laszkiewicz to serve 20 years in a state correctional facility and an additional 15 years of supervised release for her role in the death of 23-year-old Cora Laszkiewicz, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Amy Laszkiewicz reached a deal with prosecutors in January, entering an Alford plea to one count of recklessly subjecting an individual at risk to abuse under circumstances causing death. An Alford plea is functionally equivalent to a guilty plea in that it results in a conviction, but it allows a defendant to maintain their claim of innocence while conceding that the state has sufficient evidence to convict them at trial.
The sentencing hearing
Notably, the sentence Bohren handed down was even longer than the sentence recommended by prosecutors, according to a report from Milwaukee Fox affiliate WITI. During the sentencing hearing, the judge reportedly compared postmortem photos of Cora Laszkiewicz to the victims in a World War II concentration camp.
“She had a responsibility to take action — to save Cora — to do something to keep her alive,” the judge said.
Assistant District Attorney Kristi Gordon echoed the judge’s sentiment, telling the court that Cora’s “severe autism” made the situation even worse.
“Cora was 70 pounds and absolutely emaciated,” Gordon said. “I believe this case was extremely aggravated, because Cora had special needs.”
But Amy Laszkiewicz’s family members, including Cora Laszkiewicz’s sister, also addressed the court seeking leniency, and her defense attorney sought a probation-only sentence.
“She really loves us for who we are — her kids,” Amy Laszkiewicz’s other daughter said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mother love her child so much,” Cora’s aunt agreed.
Amy Laszkiewicz also spoke, saying, “I took care of Cora really the best I could.”
“Having a child with special needs is very very challenging, I will admit that,” she said. “It’s just part of — you do what you have to do.”
Cora Laszkiewicz’s death
As previously reported by Law&Crime, Amy Laszkiewicz on the morning of Jan. 4, 2023, called 911 after finding her daughter dead in her bed. The elder Laszkiewicz was the younger’s legal guardian and full-time caregiver since 2017.
Deputies responded to the residence and found the young woman without a pulse, unable to breathe, and beyond medical help.
The “extremely thin and emaciated” victim, who stood at 5’5″, weighed all of 70 pounds at the time she died, according to medical findings by Dr. Amy Shiel cited in the complaint. Medical records showed that about seven years prior to her death, Cora Laszkiewicz weighed 135 pounds.
Additional details that showcased the slow-motion nature of the young woman’s death were recorded by the medical professional.
The victim’s hip and rib bones were visible through her skin, her eyes were sunken in, and she had almost no fatty tissue on her body, the report notes. The medical examiner also said the deceased woman’s skin was in a state of “turgor,” a term referring to a state where human skin does not sufficiently recover after being pinched, indicating extreme dehydration.
Cora Laszkiewicz’s manner of death was found to be “homicide, with the caregiver failing to provide adequate hydration and nutrition,” according to the criminal complaint.
Authorities say Amy Laszkiewicz was largely forthcoming about the way her daughter had been shut in and effectively starved — of both food and anything approaching her past normalcy.
Amy Laszkiewicz would go on to tell law enforcement that her daughter had not left their residence since the COVID-19 pandemic began and that she “did not want to go to school, have visitors or go anywhere,” according to the complaint. She told police that her daughter last saw a doctor in person in 2019.
Amy Laszkiewicz insisted that her daughter “was never a big eater,” but claimed she would eat “breakfast burritos” while “sticking to a gluten and dairy free diet.”
The mother said she knew her daughter had been getting ever thinner but claimed she expected Cora to “bounce back.” When asked by a detective if she ever considered calling 911 to have her daughter taken to a hospital over her extreme weight loss, Amy Laszkiewicz said she “didn’t want to upset” the young woman.
Amy Laszkiewicz also allegedly said the entirety of her daughter’s feeding and cleaning went through her, according to the complaint.
“The defendant acknowledged that [her daughter] was very thin and said, ‘maybe my decisions weren’t right, and I can acknowledge that. I probably should have taken her in, I didn’t want to upset her more. That was always a goal of mine, to keep her calm,”” police wrote.
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