A Colorado woman convicted of strangling her 2-month-old son then driving around with his dead body for hours while experiencing postpartum psychosis will spend 40 years in prison.
Anna Louise Englund, 31, killed Miles Basellio in a car in June 2023. An “attempt to locate” alert was issued that day after the boy’s whereabouts were unknown for several hours. Prosecutors claimed Englund “drove around” with her son’s lifeless body “for several hours” after she killed him.
The pair were eventually found in the Boulder Community Health Foothills Hospital parking lot around 10 p.m. where Englund told police she strangled her son “because I didn’t want him to suffer in life like I have.”
Basellio was rushed to the emergency room where medical staff were unsuccessful in resuscitating him. The child was pronounced dead at 10:48 p.m.
On Wednesday, Englund accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The original charges of first-degree murder and first-degree murder of a victim under the age of 12 by someone in a position of trust were dismissed. Englund, who has been detained since Basellio’s death, received 423 days of credit for time served.
Englund told the judge that she accepted the deal because she couldn’t cause more harm from behind bars.
“This is a horrific crime. This is a horrific tragedy,” Judge Thomas Mulvahill said, according to the Daily Camera.
Englund’s defense attorney, Lauren Bennett, claimed his client and her son were failed by the mental health care system. He claimed Englund had recently admitted herself to two different medical facilities to get help with her homicidal and suicidal ideation and was discharged days before her son’s death. Bennett claimed Englund also made multiple attempts to kill herself.
“She experiences a great sense of regret and remorse for what happened. … She loved her son and her family,” Bennett said, the outlet reported.
In a statement to the court, Englund claimed she had “bizarre auditory and visual hallucinations” in the months around Basellio’s death.
“I didn’t sleep, then I started to have violent visual hallucinations,” she said.
Englund added that the short time she and Clark’s father parented her son was the “best two months of my life” before she experienced disturbing thoughts.
“He kept our son safe. He was very cautious about not leaving Basellio’s with me,” Englund said. “I convinced him and myself that I was OK but I was still in psychosis. I’m so sorry I took fatherhood away from him and left a hole in his life.”
On the night of the baby’s death, Englund waited until the child’s father “went the bathroom,” then snuck their son out of the house and “drove to a location where she killed him,” prosecutors said.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “988” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
Postpartum Support International provides support, resources and referrals by calling 800-944-4773
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