Maria Jaimicia Llaria Rodriguez-Barnes was sentenced to life in prison for murdering her 5-month-old son, Jaxxon Gunner Rodriguez-Barnes. (Mug shot: Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office)
A mother will spend the rest of her life behind bars for murdering her infant son, reportedly after her husband wanted to file for divorce. Maria Jaimicia Llaria Rodriguez-Barnes, 35, was convicted and sentenced on Wednesday in an Okaloosa County, Florida, courtroom, online records show.
Deputies said that crew members saw her outside her 2005 Nissan Titan truck in the parking lot of the Boardwalk, a tourist site area in Fort Walton Beach, on March 25, 2020, according to court documents and a press statement.
Law enforcement arrived to find her with a bullet hole in her chest.
“The defendant denied being shot or assaulted and continuously advised she could not breathe,” deputies wrote.
She denied that someone shot her. Asked what happened, she said she could not breathe.
Law enforcement found the baby, 5-month-old Jaxxon Gunner Rodriguez-Barnes, on the left rear floorboard of the truck.
“It should be noted the defendant was still on scene at the time the victim was located and she never said anything about the victim who is her 5 month [old] son,” deputies wrote.
Jaxxon was dead at the scene.
The gun was in plain view on the truck’s rear floorboard, deputies said.
According to partially redacted documents, the defendant that day had written an email stating, “I know this is a permanent solution to a temporary problem but it’s my choice.”
Investigators determined the defendant had shot Jaxxon and then herself, both in the chest.
Maria Rodriguez-Barnes’ carried out the shooting after her husband planned to file for divorce, Assistant State Attorney Michelle Sandler said in opening statements, according to Northwest Florida Daily News. That’s why she chose the shooting location — it is where he had proposed for marriage.
“I’m sorry for what I’m about to do,” the defendant had reportedly said, calling her husband before driving to Okaloosa Island.
At trial, the prosecution and defense reportedly argued over whether she really planned, under the law, to kill her son. The defense maintained that the state failed to prove this beyond a reasonable doubt, though they acknowledged that mother did indeed kill her son. Prosecutors reportedly maintained, however, that evidence, including handwritten notes, communications with relatives, and the incident location, proved premeditation.
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