Indiana Court of Appeals denied a woman a lighter sentence for the murder of her stepson

On Thursday the Indiana Court of Appeals denied Dayana Medina-Flores request for a lighter sentence in the murder of her 12-year-old stepson Eduardo Posso.

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Dayana Medina-Flores

Median-Flores, 27, will serve the 65-year jail sentence.

Medina-Flores had appealed her sentence on grounds that the Monroe Circuit Court Judge Christine Talley Haseman abused her discretion in giving her a maximum sentence. 

A 2019 police investigation found Medina-Flores and her husband Luis Eduardo Posso Jr. kept Eduardo chained, beaten, and shocked with an electric dog collar, alone in a bathroom of the Economy Inn in Bloomington for weeks.

According to Monroe County Coroner Joni Shields Eduardo died of starvation saying he was “severely emaciated” and had bruises all over his body.

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Medina-Flores pleaded guilty to murder in July 2021 as part of a negotiated plea agreement. Under the agreement, other charges against her would be dropped, including a life without parole modifier.  

Medina-Flores appealed her sentence in March, saying Talley Haseman failed to take mitigating factors into account in her sentencing.  

Medina-Flores’ attorney argued that she was only following the orders of her husband Posso, the child’s biological father. She claims she was suffering from battered spouse syndrome, had a lack of criminal history, and admitted to the crime and those should have been considered as mitigating factors.

But the Indiana Court of Appeals disagreed and upheld the maximum sentence.  They acknowledged Medina-Flores’ lack of criminal history and acceptance of guilt but denied she was not a willing participant in the boy’s abuse. 

“Our review of the nature of the offense reveals that Medina-Flores knowingly or intentionally killed her stepson,” the decision reads. “We agree with the trial court that Medina-Flores’ total disregard for [the boy’s] life was astonishing.” 

Luis Eduardo Posso Jr

Posso Jr. in June 2022 pleaded guilty to charges of murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, neglect of a dependent with cruel confinement, criminal confinement with bodily injury, and battery resulting in bodily injury. 

He is facing a sentence of life behind bars without the chance of parole. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 8th at 9 a.m.

Their three other children, a 9-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy, and a 2-year-old boy, were placed in the care of Child Protection Services. Officials say they appeared to be healthy and showed no signs of abuse.