Maribel Gomez, the Ephrata woman who was convicted of beating her 2-year-old son to death, was sentenced to 26 years and 8 months in court on Monday.

Gomez was found guilty of homicide by abuse and first-degree manslaughter last month.

Raffy Gomez was 25 months old when he died Sept. 10, 2003, of blunt head trauma while in his mother's care. He had spent a total of 14 months in foster care while healing from injuries inflicted by his 32-year-old mother that included broken legs, skull fractures, bruises and burns.

Three times, the state's Child Protective service placed the boy in foster care. Each time, the agency then returned Raffy to his birth mother in Ephrata.

The case spotlighted failures in the state's foster are system, but prosecutor John Knodell said before the trial started that it would be about the actions of Maribel Gomez.

A Grant County Superior Court judge heard the trial from the bench after Gomez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, waived her right to a trial by jury. He found Gomez recklessly and with extreme indifference to human life caused her son's death after a pattern of assault.

"Raffy couldn't come to court to testify," he said. "We're very grateful for the verdict we got."

Raffy died a day after his mother said her son violently fell backward and hit his head during a tantrum over food. Prosecutors said the boy died of blunt trauma to the head inflicted by his abusive mother, while a defense expert contended the toddler died after choking on vomit.

An autopsy indicated Raffy had suffered two broken legs, as many as four skull fractures, shoulder separations, burns and other injuries during his short life.

Born Aug. 7, 2001, with cocaine and methamphetamine in his system, Raffy was placed with the Griffiths before being returned to birth parents, Gomez and Jose Arechiga, at 10 months.

Arechiga was not charged in Raffy's death. Gomez' four other children have been placed in foster care.

After Raffy's death, DSHS conducted a review that concluded child welfare workers were biased toward the birth parents, ignored obvious signs that Raffy was in danger and failed to follow the agency's own rules.

As an illegal immigrant, Gomez faces deportation after her sentence is completed.