Philadelphia

Chester County Mother Denied Reduction of 42- to 94-Year Term in Boy's Killing

Jillian Tait pleaded guilty to 3rd-degree murder in the beating death of her son, Scotty McMillan

What to Know

  • Jillian Tait pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the beating death of Scotty McMillan.
  • The 3-year-old died in after a series of psychical assaults in a Chester County mobile home in 2014.
  • Tait's ex-boyfriend, Gery Fellenbaum, was sentenced to life plus 10 to 20 years

A woman who pleaded guilty to murder in the beating death of her 3-year-old son in a mobile home outside Philadelphia almost four years ago has been denied reduction of her 42- to 94-year prison sentence.

PennLive.com reports that a state Superior Court panel ruled that 34-year-old Jillian Tait got enough of a break in her third-degree murder plea agreement.

Tait also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and possessing an instrument of crime in the November 2014 death of Scotty McMillan in West Caln Township, Chester County. Her ex-boyfriend was sentenced to life plus 10 to 20 years.

Authorities said spankings of the boy escalated and he was "punched and beaten with blunt and sharp objects, whipped, taped to a chair with electrical tape and beaten, hung up by his feet."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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