Woman in Jail for Toddler’s Death Convicted of Killing 2 More Children

CARLINVILLE, Ill. (AP) _ A woman imprisoned for killing her 3-year-old child in 1989 was found guilty but mentally ill Friday in the earlier deaths of her two younger children.

A hearing was scheduled next week to determine the sentence for Tammy Corbett, 27. Macoupin County State’s Attorney Vince Moreth has said he would seek the death penalty.

Corbett, convicted by a judge after waiving her right to a jury trial, already is serving 20 years in prison after pleading guilty but mentally ill in the death of her son, Richard Eveans Jr.

During the week-long trial, defense attorneys told Circuit Judge Joseph Koval that Corbett was not in touch with reality when she killed 7-week-old Robert Eveans in September 1987 and 16-day-old Amy Eveans in September 1988.

But prosecutors said Corbett murdered her children because she craved attention.

Neither of the younger children’s deaths was considered suspicious until Richard died on July 19, 1989, his third birthday.

The cause of Amy’s death was listed as sudden infant death syndrome, and Robert Eveans was listed as a victim of spinal meningitis resulting from a skull fracture.

Corbett told authorities Robert was injured when Richard, then 17 months old, pulled him from a table at the family’s home in Brighton, a town of 2,300 people near St. Louis.

Investigators reopened their investigation of the two younger children’s deaths after Richard died. She pleaded guilty to Richard’s death in fall 1990.

Corbett, who resumed using her maiden name after a divorce in fall 1990, was indicted in the younger children’s deaths in April 1991.

Corbett’s ex-husband, Richard Eveans, has said Corbett confessed to killing all three children.