Mother charged in 6-year-old son’s death pleads guilty

By WLWT Staff

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    MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (WLWT) — A Middletown mother charged with killing her 6-year-old son and dumping him in the Ohio River pleaded guilty to murder Monday.

Brittany Gosney, 29, who was charged with killing her 6-year-old son, James Hutchinson, and dumping him in the Ohio River, pleaded guilty to one count of murder and two other counts of child endangering.

As a part of the plea deal, all other charges were dismissed.

“I think she obviously understands the significance of the decisions she made. I think that she’s going to have to deal with this the rest of her life and her children are going to have to deal with it the rest of their lives,” defense attorney David Washington said.

Prosecutors said they considered the feelings of Gosney’s other two children when the offered her a plea deal.

“Pretty much every parent out there would question, ‘Is this ever enough?’ But we have two living children who have already been through trauma that no child should ever experience, and this guilty plea prevents them from going through further trauma, at least as it related to a case involving their mother,” said Kelly Heile, assistant prosecutor.

Gosney is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 13. She faces a mandatory life sentence with parole eligibility after 15, 18 or 21 years.

Gosney originally pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity earlier this year, but was later ruled competent to stand trial.

Officials said Gosney intended on abandoning three of her children when she drove them to the Rush Run Wildlife area in Preble County on Feb. 27 at 3 a.m. As Gosney attempted to leave, police said James grabbed the handle of the car door. Police said Gosney sped off and dragged James. Gosney reportedly told police she went back to get him and he was dead. Police said she put his body, along with her two other children, back in the car and drove home to Middletown.

The next day, police said Gosney and her boyfriend, James Hamilton, 42, threw James’ body into the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg. His body has not been recovered.

Gosney told police that her boyfriend, Hamilton, was pressuring her to get rid of her children. Investigators believe it was her intention to leave all three children at the park.

Hamilton has been indicted on three counts each of kidnapping, abduction, endangering children, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse. He is set to appear in court next week.

When it comes to the guilty plea, Prosecutor Mike Gmoser said Monday he believes justice was served.

“It absolutely is justice. When you have accountability for the principle charge, the most that could have happened was the charge she pled guilty to. That is justice for this child,” Gmoser said.

When asked if he believed James’ body is in the river Gmoser said, “I absolutely believe this child is in the river for the reasons that will become clear later and ill be happy to discuss that at a later time.”

He referenced the atmospheric conditions of the river over the past year, saying visibility has made it difficult to work with.

Sonar crews thought they had detected a body earlier this year, but it turned out to be a branch.

“We thought we had a body it’s unfortunate that it wasn’t. We’re still looking, they’re still going to continue to do that and I hope they do but the conditions are extreme,” Gmoser said.

Several searches have taken place on the Ohio River over the several few months in hopes of recovering James’ body. So far, no search has successfully detected any sign of James.

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