Mom pleaded guilty to son's death. T-shirt she wore at sentencing proclaims innocence

More than a month ago, Kimberly Lightwine pleaded guilty to charges connected to her 19-year-old son's death.

But during her sentencing hearing Friday, the 44-year-old Missouri mother walked into the courtroom wearing a white T-shirt with a message on the back.

"Kimberly is Innocent," it read underlined in black letters, video from KY3 showed.

Lightwine is maintaining her innocence nearly two years after Polk County deputies found her lying next to her son's body in a field. Both were nearly naked.

Prosecutors said the victim, Austin Anderson, was an adult with "multiple handicaps," including blindness and autism, and couldn't survive without medication. Anderson was wearing a diaper "that appeared to be full" when deputies found his body on August 29, 2016, court records said.

"In this particular case Ms. Lightwine recklessly failed to provide the needed medication and allowed him to remain unprotected for some period of time that resulted in his death," the prosecuting attorney's office said in a statement in May.

At first, Lightwine faced second-degree murder after she allegedly told authorities she killed her son, court records said.

She later pleaded guilty to amended charges of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and second-degree elder abuse, but contended she doesn't remember what happened to her and her son that day and that she was injured and drugged.

She was charged with elder abuse, a charge that usually applies to older victims, because Anderson was considered "an eligible adult," an adult with disabilities under the age of 60 who was unable to take care of himself.

Lightwine's attorney has said previously Lightwine had a broken leg and broken jaw, and that his client believes other people might have been involved in her son's death.

Lightwine appeared in front of a judge Friday for her sentencing, wearing a T-shirt proclaiming her innocence.

According to the the Bolivar Herald-Free Press, Lightwine complained to the judge about her attorney's performance, and at one point, broke down in tears.

The judge later ruled Lightwine's attorney, Jason Coatney, provided effective counsel to his client, the Associated Press reported, and Lightwine was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Lightwine could be released on probation following successful completion of a 120-day substance abuse program through the Missouri Department of Corrections, KY3 reported.

This story was originally published June 30, 2018 at 11:28 AM.