Woman suspected of killing son 10 years after she was convicted of trying to drown him as a baby

PORTERVILLE, Calif. - A woman is suspected of killing her 12-year-old son in California about 10 years after she was convicted of trying to drown him as a baby, according to sheriff’s officials.

Sherri Telnas, 45, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, authorities said.

Around 5:25 a.m. Saturday deputies form the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a woman acting odd at an address in Porterville.

The caller said the woman had taken her two sons, 7 and 12, to an irrigation ditch near a corn field across the street.

When deputies arrived, they found the boys unresponsive in the ditch. The deputies rendered medical aid and both children were taken to a hospital, where the 12-year-old died of his injuries, authorities said. His 7-year-old sibling was listed in critical condition.

Telnas was taken into custody at the scene.

In 2009, Telnas was convicted in Montana of trying to drown the son she’s suspected of killing in a river in 2008 when he was only 10 months old. She was sentenced to 20 years in the custody of Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services, according to the Missoulian.

According to the report, Telnas tried to drown her baby, but she ended up taking herself and the baby to a hospital where she told authorities she’d tried to drown the child.

The Missoulian also indicated that the child was placed in the custody of his father. It’s unclear how Telnas ended up with the children in California.

Authorities said the boy’s cause of death would be determined by an autopsy.

This story was reported from Los Angeles.