A 20-year-old Florida mother who tried to hire a hitman to murder her 3-year-old son through a fake murder-for-hire website has been sentenced to community control and probation instead of jail, according to multiple reports.
Prosecutors in Miami-Dade County said Jazmin Paez pleaded guilty this week to solicitation of first-degree murder, unlawful use of a communications device, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
She had faced a potential decades-long prison sentence but reached a plea deal that spared her any time behind bars. Under the agreement, she will be under strict community control for two years, followed by 12 years of reporting probation, according to Perez Hilton.
Paez was first arrested in July 2023 after she submitted a request on RentAHitman.com, a satirical site that forwards suspicious inquiries to law enforcement, asking for her toddler to be killed "before the end of the week.
Investigators said she provided photographs of the child, his home address, and instructions that he be taken "far, far away and possibly be killed but ASAP," and indicated she was willing to pay several thousand dollars.
The website's operator notified authorities, who traced the inquiry and confirmed the child was her intended target.
According to court records and prosecutors, Paez was a teen mother at the time, and the boy was reportedly the product of an incestuous relationship involving her biological parents, who are both the maternal and paternal grandparents of the child, CourtTV reported.
In court, the assistant state attorney noted that Paez had struggled with her circumstances and was "ill-equipped" to care for the child when she was 18. Other reports have indicated she has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was ordered to undergo a full mental health assessment.
As part of her sentence, Paez must complete behavioral therapy, maintain employment or schooling, and comply with any recommended mental health treatment. She has also lost her parental rights to the boy and is barred from having contact with him. If she violates the terms of her community control or probation, she could face up to 40 years in state prison.
The child was not harmed and has been placed in the care of relatives, according to earlier police and media reports. Authorities and child welfare officials continue to monitor his situation while Paez serves her community-based sentence, as per Patch.
