Maribel Gomez conviction upheld

EPHRATA -- The Washington Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a Grant County woman convicted of beating her two-year-old son to death. Maribel Gomez was convicted of homicide by abuse and sentenced to more than 26 years in prison.

In the majority decision, Judge James Johnson rejected Gomez's claims that her counsel was ineffective and had a conflict of interest because he represented the victim's father in a custody dispute. Johnson noted a pattern of abuse including the baby born addicted todrugs and having multiple large bone fractures before the final abuse.

For more information, read Monday's Columbia Basin Herald.