A mother in Louisiana who has been behind bars since her infant son died after she fed him cow’s milk in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has been denied parole.
On Tuesday, Feb. 10, one member of the state parole board cast the deciding no vote in the case of 46-year-old Tiffany Woods, a mother of four who was convicted of second-degree murder in 2008 in connection with her son’s death in Shreveport, according to the Times-Picayune.
While two of the three board members voted in favor of Woods’ early release, citing how much she has grown during her time in prison, the lone dissenting member, Carolyn Stapleton, acknowledged that progress but said she could not look past the condition of the child at the time of his death nearly two decades ago.
“You’ve done remarkable, wonderful things. But because of the condition of the child and the circumstances that the DA’s office described, I am not going to be able to grant you parole today,” Stapleton said.
Woods’ son, Emmanuel, was born prematurely at just over three pounds and spent more than a month in the neonatal intensive care unit at Tulane Medical Center. He went home at 5 pounds about three weeks before the hurricane hit. According to The Marshall Project, after evacuating New Orleans, the family cycled through temporary shelters in Shreveport, first staying at a sports arena, then a motel, before eventually settling into a rented house.
Through tears, according to the Times-Picayune, Woods told the parole board that her baby had been vomiting his formula “in large amounts” and that she had run out of WIC vouchers when she made what she called the “devastating choice” to switch him to cow’s milk.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she said, adding that after the switch, he seemed to tolerate the milk more easily.
“I thought he was doing better, but he wasn’t doing better. I didn’t know how to go about anything but survival mode,” she admitted. “I know he’s gone because of me. I didn’t mean to take his life.”
According to The Independent, she added, “At that stage of my life, I was a young mother who was trying to take care of her children the best she could. And I made some terrible decisions.”
She continued, “But the woman who sits before you today, I’m not that same person.”
A judge initially sentenced both Woods and the baby’s father, Emmanuel Scott, to automatic life sentences. In 2023, former Gov. John Bel Edwards commuted Woods’ sentence to 36 years following a recommendation from the pardon board. The commutation made her eligible for release after serving half of her remaining sentence.
Leone Fitzgerald, director of victim assistance for the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office, told the panel they were “getting a little tired of hearing about” Hurricane Katrina as a factor in the infant’s death.
“It had to be chaotic and stressful and unprecedented, but it wasn’t a reason for Ms. Woods to not feed her baby,” Fitzgerald said, per the outlet.
Woods’ case, which some advocates say underscores the ways Black mothers are often policed and criminalized amid crisis, would have resulted in her release in September had parole been granted, according to Francis Abbott, executive director of the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole.
She must now wait five years before reapplying. With credit for “good time,” Woods is scheduled to be released without parole in 10 years.
Among those advocating for her release are her four surviving adult children.
“It is my belief that we all need her, her children,” said her son Nie-John Woods, who testified from California, per The Independent. “We all serve the sentence with our mom.”
