Mother Strangles Baby During Postpartum Psychosis, Receives 40-Year Sentence

A 31-year-old woman in Colorado will be in prison for many years after strangling her 2-month-old baby to death.

This sad incident occurred during a severe mental health crisis known as postpartum psychosis.

On Wednesday, Judge Thomas Mulvahill sentenced Anna Louise Englund to 40 years in prison for killing young Miles Basellio in 2023.

Englund was originally charged with first-degree murder and killing a child under 12 by someone who was trusted to care for them. 

These charges usually carry a minimum mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole.

However, she made a deal with the prosecutors and agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder. 

As a result of this, the more serious charges were dropped.

The court gave Englund credit for the 423 days she has spent in detention since her arrest in June 2023.

Anna Louise Englund

“This guilty plea and lengthy sentence is the right result in this very sad case,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty said in a statement. 

Englund’s lawyer, Laren Bennett, argued that the mental health care system let both Englund and her baby down. 

Bennett also said that Englund loved her son and family and felt deeply sorry for what happened.

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Englund also spoke to the court, describing what she experienced in the weeks after giving birth to Miles.

“All I can recall was that I had bizarre auditory and visual hallucinations,” Englund reportedly said. 

“I didn’t sleep, then I started to have violent visual hallucinations.”

Englund told the court that she agreed to plead guilty and go to prison so that she wouldn’t harm anyone else, including her husband. 

She said the time she spent caring for Miles with him before her hallucinations started, was the "best two months of her life."

“He kept our son safe,” she reportedly said. 

“He was very cautious about not leaving [Miles] with me. I convinced him and myself that I was OK but I was still in psychosis. I’m so sorry I took fatherhood away from him and left a hole in his life.”

Miles Basellio

As reported earlier, on June 10, police went to Englund’s home to check on a woman who might have been experiencing a mental health crisis. 

Witnesses told the police that Englund had taken her baby and left the house.

Prosecutors said that on that fateful day, Englund waited until the child’s father went to the bathroom.

She then sneaked out of the house with Miles and drove to a location where she killed him.

Englund’s whereabouts remained a mystery for several hours after an “attempt to locate” alert was issued, investigators said. 

Englund was found shortly after 10 p.m. that night, parked in the lot of Boulder Community Health Foothills Hospital.

Miles was also in the vehicle and was taken to the emergency room, where he was admitted in critical condition.

The medical staff tried but could not revive the child, and sadly he was pronounced dead at 10:48 p.m.

When she was interrogated by the police, she said that she had driven only a few blocks from home before she put Miles in her lap and strangled him.

She said she did it because she didn’t want him to suffer in life the way she had.

Prosecutors said that after killing her son, Englund “drove around” with the boy’s body for several hours.

Postpartum psychosis is a severe mental health condition that can occur shortly after childbirth. 

It is characterized by symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, severe mood swings, and disorganized thinking. 

This condition requires immediate medical attention, as it can pose serious risks to both the mother and the baby. 

It is different from the more common postpartum depression, which generally involves feelings of sadness and anxiety.

In other news, a jealous ex-boyfriend who slit his former girlfriend's throat after their breakup, killing her, has been sentenced to life in prison. 

He claimed he did it "to speed up the process."

Click here for more details.

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