Man Pleads Guilty To Throwing Son Off Bridge - Joy Lepola
Updated: Monday, November 19 2012, 09:25 AM EST
A man who threw his 3-year-old son off Francis Scott Key Bridge will receive a maximum of 50 years in prison under a plea bargain.
Stephen Nelson, 40, pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.
On Monday, prosecutors offered a plea agreement that called for Nelson to serve a maximum of 30 years in prison, but a judge rejected that deal because it was too lenient.
The case was sent to a different judge for trial, and attorneys negotiated a deal with a 50-year sentencing cap.
Nelson admitted that he threw his son, Turner Nelson, off the Key Bridge into the Patapsco River in February 2008. The boy's body was found five months later.
Natisha Johnson, Turner's mother, says she's satisfied with the plea and that it gives her closure.
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