Gutierrez Pleads Guilty to Negligent Homicide

Melissa Gutierrez was sentenced to 5-10 years in prison Monday afternoon after pleading guilty to a charge of negligent homicide in the drowning death of her 8-month-old son Christian Ntapalis in August of 2011.

Gutierrez took the stand for nearly half of the two-hour long plea and sentencing hearing in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Nashua and detailed among other things, the many challenges she faced during a difficult childhood, the mistakes she made as a parent of three children and that day in August when she found her youngest baby floating in the bathtub.

Her attorney, Anthony Sculimbrene, proposed during the hearing a sentence of 5-10 years with the possibility of up to three years suspended on the condition that she complete three courses in jail regarding, wellness, parenting and making good life choices. He requested one year suspended for each program she completes.

Sculimbrene said one thing that's impressed him about Gutierrez's attorney is how close she keeps what happened to Christian to the surface, because she feels that by not letting herself forget what happened, it's the only way she can atone for something she cannot repair.

“Regardless of the punishment she receives here today, she will punish herself for the rest of her life," Sculimbrene said.

Prosecutor Dave Tencza said the state's recommendation was for 5-10 years, stand committed, with no early parole. He said this type of programming that she'll partake in in prison was available to her before he son died and she didn't take advantage of it.

“These are things she should have done to try to protect her kids before this happened in Aug. 2011," Tencza said. "The state doesn't feel that she should get credit for doing these things now.

Ultimately, Judge Diane Nicolosi sentenced Gutierrez to 5-10 years with the opportunity to have one year suspended if she completes the three programs. With a pretrial confinement of 226 days, that means Gutierrez, 27, could be out of prison in less than 3 and a half years – about 4 months ahead of her 31st birthday.

Nicolosi said that in her sentencing decision she was taking into account Gutierrez's pasy history with her children, her criminal history and her difficult childhood among other things. She said she didn't doubt Gutierrez's sincerity in her love for her children but explained that this was not an accident, and was indeed something that could have been prevented.

Patch will have more on this story Tuesday morning, including testimony from Gutierrez.