Bianca Cartagena

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bianca had been living temporarily with her grandparents, but was allowed to spend a night with her mother the night she died. Eight year old Bianca struggled for air, as her mother smothered her to death. Candace Cartagena suffocated her daughter during a jealous rage after Bianca spent Thanksgiving with Cartagena’s estranged husband and his girlfriend, not her. Candace was going through a divorce and financial problems. On November 30, 2010 Bryan Sweeney Cartagena's step-father, discovered Bianca dead lying on her back in her mother's bedroom.

 

Police found Candace semi-conscious in a shed in the backyard. She appeared to be suffering from what was described as a "self-inflicted type illness." Candace had little to say that night about what might have happened to her daughter. Cartagena say she had a fight with her husband and had started taking pills November 29, 2010, after spending the afternoon with her daughter. She said she fell asleep on the couch, woke up all wet and moved to another couch. She then said she went to the shed to cool off. She said she did not recall any interaction with her daughter after taking the pills. She said she did not leave a suicide note or tell anyone because she just wanted to die.

 

 Candace claimed in court that she accidentally suffocated Bianca when she rolled on top of her napping daughter after taking pills in a failed attempt to kill herself. Judge Thomas P. Franczyk rejected her claim. “Who would do that without considering the effect on an 8-year-old child” when she awoke and found her dead mother next to her? He asked Cartagena. Candace was sentenced to 25 years to life.