Eryn Allegra, escorted by St. Lucie County Deputy Angel Torres, was sentenced Wednesday afternoon by Circuit Judge Dan Vaughn to life plus 30 years for killing her 8-year-old son Tristan on Christmas Day 2008. (TCPalm.com)

FORT PIERCE - Eryn Allegra, the 32-year-old Port St. Lucie woman accused of smothering her 8-year-old son to death on Christmas Day 2008, avoided the possibility of a death sentence by pleading guilty Wednesday afternoon to premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse charges.

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Tristan Allegra

But spending the rest of her life behind bars thinking about how she killed her son, said Chief Assistant State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl, “is probably a much greater punishment for her.”

Shackled and wearing gold prison scrubs, Allegra looked incredibly small as she stood before Circuit Judge Dan Vaughn, who accepted the plea deal and levied the sentence: Life in prison for the first-degree murder charge, plus 30 years to run consecutively for the child abuse charge.

Allegra spoke softly and gave only “yes, sir” and “no, sir” answers to Vaughn’s questions. Neither she nor her attorneys, Chief Assistant Public Defender Mark Harllee and Assistant Public Defender Alan D. Hunt, tried to persuade Vaughn to give a lighter sentence.

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Listen to her talk about her son’s death:

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Tristan Allegra

Eryn Allegra

PORT ST. LUCIE — Eryn Allegra said she was sorry in all the letters she wrote to her son.

That’s what police say they found when they searched the Holiday Inn where 8-year-old Tristan Allegra was suffocated to death on Christmas morning.

“You’ll always be my sweet boy,” one letter read.

“You deserved a better mother,” said another.

People who know Allegra, 31, say she is someone who keeps to herself. Doesn’t like to share what she’s thinking. Polite but prefers to keep quiet.

With pen and paper, though, the words just seemed to flow out of her, according to court documents recently released.

Audio

Listen to her talk about her son’s death:

(more…)