A Bayside man last week pleaded guilty in the beating death of his mother inside their home in February 2011, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Matthew Devlin, 49, last Friday pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder, who set sentencing for June 4, and indicated that he would hand down a term of 21 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision.
In pleading guilty, Devlin admitted to having an argument with his mother and brother on the evening of Feb. 12, 2011, and hitting his mother in the head with an aluminum bat. When police arrived at the residence in response to a call of an assault, they found the victim, 79-year-old Elizabeth “Betty Ann” Devlin, in a second-floor bedroom with extensive head injuries. She was transported to an area hospital in critical condition and placed in a medically induced coma. She died five days later on Feb. 17, 2011.
Devlin’s brother, John Devlin, then 54, also suffered a head wound in the attack which required 35 staples to close.
“This was a senseless family tragedy that ended with a mother dead and her son guilty of taking her life,” Brown said. “By his actions, the defendant has proven himself unfit for society. While he will have to live with what he did for the rest of his life, the sentence to be imposed is more than warranted.”
