Iowa woman gets 50-year sentence in baby's death

A Des Moines woman who pleaded guilty to multiple acts of child endangerment in the drowning of her infant son has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Before sentencing Heidi Anfinson on Thursday, Polk County Judge Scott Rosenberg called the case tragic. He said he believed Anfinson was no threat to public safety.

Under the plea agreement, the 50-year-old Anfinson could be released in several months or could serve several years for the 1998 drowning death of 2-month-old Jacob Anfinson. The decision will be up to the Board of Parole.

Anfinson was found guilty in 2000 of second-degree murder in the death of the boy. His body, weighted down with rocks, was found in Saylorville Lake near Des Moines.

In 2007, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed her conviction, saying Anfinson's former lawyer failed to pursue evidence of postpartum psychosis.

-- Associated Press