Wellington mother sentenced to Hard 25 in son’s murder

Lindsey Nicole Blansett, the Wellington mother convicted of murdering her 10-year-old son, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years.

Blansett was additionally sentenced to 11 months in prison for aggravated assault.

Those 11 months will run concurrently with her life sentence, according to Kerwin Spencer, Sumner County Attorney.

Blansett’s attorney filed multiple motions after the conviction that were denied Thursday, including a motion for a mistrial and a motion for a new trial, Spencer said.

Her attorney also filed a motion claiming Blansett deserved a reduced sentence because of “mitigating circumstances,” Spencer said.

Spencer argued against that motion, but a Wellington judge granted it based on three mitigating factors:

▪ Blansett had no significant prior criminal record — only one misdemeanor theft.

▪ Mental illness was a contributing factor in the murder.

▪ She took responsibility for her crime, as evidenced by her calling 911 and self-reporting it.

Blansett was eligible for a Hard 50 sentence for the murder.

If a parole board decides she is eligible for parole after 25 years, she will be required to register as a violent offender after her release, Spencer said.

The sentencing hearing Thursday came nearly a year after Blansett called 911 shortly before midnight Dec. 14, 2014. At the time, she told dispatchers she “was saving him from the pain that was coming.”

At her trial in October, jurors concluded that Blansett entered her son’s room with a knife and a rock.

She hit her son, Caleb, over the head with the rock, after which he woke up and said, “Mom, stop,” Spencer said.

She then stabbed him multiple times until he was dead.

This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 5:42 PM with the headline "Wellington mother sentenced to Hard 25 in son’s murder."