Mom Snuck Out with Newborn When Baby's Father Went to the Bathroom. Then She Strangled Him to Death

Anna Englund, 31, was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Wednesday, Aug. 7

• Anna Englund was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the second-degree murder of her infant son, Miles.

• In June 2023, she took her 2-month-old son for a drive and strangled him in her car in Boulder County, Colo.

• Englund had previous mental health issues but was deemed competent to stand trial in November 2023

A Colorado mother has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with her 2-month-old son's death in 2023, according to a Boulder County news release.

After her Aug. 7 guilty plea, Anna Englund, 31, was immediately sentenced to 40 years in prison. As part of the plea deal, first-degree murder charges were dropped against Englund, who strangled son Miles Basellio to death.

“This guilty plea and lengthy sentence is the right result in this very sad case,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty stated in the news release. “It is heartbreaking to acknowledge the immense emotional toll on the baby’s father and family, as well as all the police officers who desperately tried to prevent this tragic murder.”

On June 10, 2023, around 4:30 p.m., authorities were called for a welfare check on a woman who was possibly having a mental health crisis, police said, per 9 NBC News.

Miles’ father had been was concerned about Englund’s mental health and behavior with the infant. When he went to the bathroom, Englund used the opportunity to leave the home with the child, driving to a location and then strangling him, according to the release.

Per an affidavit obtained by The Denver Post, she ultimately confessed to killing the baby “because I didn’t want him to suffer in life like I have.”

Per the affidavit, she said to authorities that “she was worried about all of the things that could happen” to Miles “because the world was ‘crazy.’”

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After being alerted to the missing mother and child, officers issued an attempt-to-locate alert for Englund to nearby law enforcement agencies. Englund proceeded to drive around with the baby for several hours as law enforcement continued to search for them.

Ultimately, about six hours after the call for a welfare check, Englund was found at a hospital with the child, who was deceased. Englund later confessed to police and said she'd been looking for a place to die by suicide, according to the affidavit.

Prior to the June 2023 incident, Englund went to the hospital twice before for suicidal ideation, per 9 NBC News, which cites court records. Miles’ father also told the outlet that Englund was at Boulder Community Health — the hospital at which the pair had been found — and that the doctors released her after a few days for both visits.

While she was in the hospital’s care, she was prescribed medication, “but she only took it once and she felt more suicidal…she refused to take it again,” the affidavit said, The Denver Post reports.

Although Englund and Miles’ father disclosed her mental health status, she was ruled competent to stand trial by a judge last November. However, she chose a plea deal.

A GoFundMe page was previously created to raise funds for Miles' funeral.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.

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