A mother has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing her 8-year-old son and setting their Meriden home on fire with a tiki torch in 2016, according to the Office of the State's Attorney.
Officials said Karin Ziolkowski strangled her son Elijah while in their home on Nov. 14, 2016. Then, she allegedly set two fires inside. She was found guilty in November 2022.
Elijah was unresponsive and emergency crews were not able to get him breathing again. His death was ruled a homicide by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Court records say there was evidence of tiki torch oil in the basement, a first-floor bedroom and on Karin and Elijah’s clothing. They also say the batteries had been removed from the carbon monoxide detector before the fire.
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When Ziolkowski was questioned about what happened, she told authorities she did not recall anything about the day and denied hurting her son, according to court records.
When investigators went through Ziolkowski's social media accounts, they found Tweets that include anger, sickness, crying and sadness emojis and one that said "Why did I have a child?" Blood work revealed that she also had elevated levels of Benadryl in her system.
Ziolkowski was sentenced to 40 years for murder and 10 years on the arson charge. Both sentences will be served at the same time for a total effective sentence of 40 years, according to officials.
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Meriden Police, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, and others were involved in the investigation.
