A 49-year-old man has pleaded guilty to beating his elderly mother to death with a bat inside their Bayside home more than four years ago, the district attorney’s office announced.
Matthew J. Devlin, in pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter Friday, admitted to the killing during an argument with his mother and brother on the evening of Feb. 12, 2011, prosecutors said. As they fought, Devlin hit his mother in the head with an aluminum bat.
When police arrived at the home, they found his mother, 79-year-old Elizabeth “Betty Ann” Devlin, in a second-floor bedroom with serious head injuries, according to District Attorney Richard Brown. She was taken to an area hospital, where she was placed in a medically induced coma and died five days later.
Deviln’s brother, then 54, also suffered a head wound in the attack, which required 35 stitches.
At his plea on Friday, the judge indicated that at Devlin’s June 4 sentencing he would receive 21 years in prison and five years post-release supervision.
“This was a senseless family tragedy that ended with a mother dead and her son guilty of taking her life. By his actions, the defendant has proven himself unfit for society. While he will have to live with what he did for the rest of his life, the sentence to be imposed is more than warranted,” Brown said.
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