A Routt County woman pleaded guilty Monday to killing her 9-year-old son last year during an attempted murder-suicide.
Lisa Lesyshen, 47, broke down into tears, held her mouth and answered the judge through sobs while admitting to shooting and killing her son, Asher Lesyshen-Kirlan, before shooting herself at her home near Steamboat Springs in May 2013.
“You understand that if the plea goes through today, there will never be a trial in this case?” Judge Michael O’Hara asked.
Lesyshen, who is paralyzed and in a wheelchair from her attempted suicide, answered, “Yes.”
Lesyshen faced several charges, including first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and domestic violence. The judge accepted a plea of second-degree murder and 40 years in prison. She will be credited with time served.
Lesyshen declined to make a statement before the court.
“I would imagine that the punishment you experience every day pales to the punishment” called for by the court, O’Hara said to Lesyshen.
Lesyshen entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity earlier this year, court records show. Monday’s guilty plea vacates that argument. Lesyshen’s husband, Michael Kirlan, the boy’s father, was consulted and agreed upon the sentence.
“I’m relieved that we are past this,” Kirlan said after the hearing. “I’m very happy that the community and everyone involved did not have to go through a trial. It allows myself and some others to move forward with our lives.”
Kirlan said he is “satisfied” with the plea agreement, adding that he thinks about his son every day.
“I’m doing as well as I can, I think,” he said. “I try to do things that make me happy.”
Kirlan called law enforcement to report that the boy had been shot. When police arrived, they found the 9-year-old riddled with wounds, the Steamboat Pilot & Today reported. Deputies also found Lesyshen unconscious with a gunshot wound, a revolver lying nearby, according to court records obtained by the newspaper.
The couple had been going through a separation when the shooting occurred.
“This has been one of the most tragic situations I have been involved with in my life,” Lesyshen’s attorney said.
Lesyshen was being held at the Denver County jail because of her medical needs. As she wheeled herself out of the courtroom under the watchful eyes of a Denver sheriff’s deputy, Lesyshen turned to her parents and brother in the gallery behind her and mouthed, “I love you.”
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jesseapaul
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
