STATE : Woman Who Killed Son Is Cleared

A judge today set aside a jury’s second-degree murder conviction and ruled that Sheryl Massip, 24, of Anaheim was innocent by reason of insanity when she killed her colicky infant son, Michael, who was run over by her Volvo before being dumped in a trash can April 29, 1987.

Superior Court Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald said that the prosecution failed to prove malice aforethought and that the defendant “was legally insane at the time she killed her son.” Massip, who had faced 15 years to life in prison, showed no emotion as the judge made his ruling. But her family, who packed the courtroom, burst into applause and cheers.