A 26-year-old mentally challenged woman who was charged in the death of her 7-week-old son received a 10-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree child abuse.

Harford County Judge William O. Carr suspended the sentence of Giovanna Mari Mosely of Abingdon on Wednesday. Mosely was released from jail Jan. 23, according to her defense attorney.

Her son, Seth Gabriel Mosely, died of head injuries April 10, according to a death certificate.

In August, Mosely, her husband, Richard Norman Mosely Jr., who has brain damage from a car accident, and their roommate, Daniel Evan Reilly, were indicted by a grand jury on charges of second-degree murder and two counts of child abuse.

The county's Child Protective Services agency was involved in Seth's care, because of concerns about the Moselys' parental skills, according to court documents. Four days before Seth's death, the baby was taken to two physicians because of his weight loss and concerns that the "parents were not properly feeding him."

He was diagnosed with a "failure to thrive," and both times, the baby was released to his parents and scheduled for weekly appointments, court documents show.

Jesse Stacey, Giovanna Mosely's father, raised questions about the handling of the case during an interview yesterday.

"If something was wrong with the baby, why did the doctors and the hospital release him?" he asked.

On the evening of April 9, the Moselys had gone to bed while Reilly remained awake, according to court documents.

The baby began screaming and "was disrespectful," Reilly told a Harford County sheriff's deputy, so he began to "shake it to calm it down."

Giovanna Mosely woke up the next day about 12:30 p.m. when Reilly told her there was a problem with the baby, according to court documents. Seth had a temperature of 92 degrees and had blood and mucus in his nostrils. Mosely called a Child Protective Services worker at 1:14 p.m.

Prosecutor Bruce Smith said the mother waited too long before contacting authorities, and if "you fail to take action, that's child abuse."

Defense attorney Paul Kramer said his client was not mentally capable of understanding the need to call for help.

Mosely, who is 8 months pregnant, will give her baby up for adoption, Kramer said.

Stacey said he is unhappy about the plea agreement, but said his daughter agreed because "her only concern was to get out of jail."

As part of the plea agreement, Mosely has agreed to cooperate in the case against her husband and Reilly.

Both have entered pleas of not criminally responsible. Their cases have been indefinitely postponed pending psychological evaluations, Smith said.

madison.park@baltsun.com