Ruby Klokow initially claimed her 9-month-old daughter died by falling off the couch

Feb 26, 2013 10:46 GMT  ·  By

A murder trial is ending in a plea by Ruby Klokow of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The defendant allegedly killed her 9-month-old daughter in 1957.

Klokow previously pleaded not guilty to all charges, but has accepted the plea bargain that allows her to only be tried on manslaughter charges. If the Jury finds her guilty, the statute of limitations for the crime has expired.

According to UPI, district Attorney Joe DeCecco is set to recommend 10-year probation in the murder case, as well as 45 days in jail.

At the time, she told police officers that her daughter died by falling off the couch, a claim dismissed by a forensic pathologist's examination.

In 2008, her son, James Klokow Jr. prompted a reopening of the investigation, which ended in his mother being charged in 2011.

Reports revealed that Klokow was an abusive parent, breaking his arm and nose and using a hammer to strike another child's foot.

The accounts have been confirmed by Ruby's sister Judy Post, who has told the court about watching her slam the toddler on the ground on one occasion.

He tells WISN that she would kick him in the knees, choke him and make him stand in a corner, while throwing scissors and knives at him.

On several accounts, she blamed him for the death of baby Jeaneen, who he described as being 6 months old, and not 9 months old, as his mother alleged.

"You can't imagine standing in the corner all day when Mom said you killed your baby sister," he says.

He ran away when he was 13 years old, and does not keep in contact with 76-year-old Klokow.

"I do forgive her because ... if you don't forgive you're not going to be forgiven. […] I don't want nothing to do with my mother anymore. [...] I don't consider her my mother," he adds.