Sentencing is scheduled this week for a Duchesne County woman who entered a Guilty Plea to 1st Degree Felony Child Abuse Homicide in the 2018 death of her 2-year-old foster child. Lisa Jo Vanderlinden changed her plea to Guilty ahead of her scheduled jury trial in March. According to the ‘Statement of Defendant in Support of Guilty Plea’ filed in March in 8th District Court, Child Abuse Homicide carries a penalty of 5 years to life in prison and a $10,000 dollar fine. Vanderlinden’s statement to the court included the following: “On or about August 4th to August 5th, 2018, in Duchesne County, I had the care and custody of …a foster child… [He] had damage to internal organs of his body that involved a substantial risk of death…My failure to seek such medical attention under the circumstances was reckless and resulted ultimately in his death.” According to court documents, investigators shared at the time of Vanderlinden’s arrest that Vanderlinden said on the evening of August 4th, 2018, she was “mad and frustrated” with the boy and she removed him from the dinner table. Investigators say from that point forward, the boy was in her care. Others in the home told investigators that at some point in the evening, a loud bang was heard from the bathroom where Vanderlinden was caring for the boy. On the morning of August 5th, the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the residence on a report of a deceased 2-year-old boy. The medical examiner found the boy to have numerous bruises and abrasions to his entire body as well as significant internal injuries that resulted in death. Vanderlinden had originally been scheduled for sentencing on May 13th. The date was rescheduled for this Wednesday, July 29th, at 10am in Duchesne County’s 8th District Court.
