Connecticut woman sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing her 8-year-old son, setting house on fire

A Connecticut woman has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for suffocating her 8-year-old son and then setting their house on fire, New Haven State's Attorney Office said Tuesday.

Prosecutors said Karin Ziolkowski suffocated her son, Elijah, in their Meriden home on Nov. 14, 2016 and then used tiki torch oil to set two fires. Rescuers could not resuscitate the boy, whose death was ruled a homicide by asphyxia.

Ziolkowski was arrested in October 2017 in North Carolina. She was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in state prison for murder and 10 years for arson, to be served concurrently. A Superior Court jury in New Haven found her guilty on both charges on Nov. 8, 2022.

The Record-Journal reported that on Nov. 10, 2016, four days prior to the fire, Ziolkowski tweeted "fire extinguisher" and "devil's playground," following by "#takethatasyouwill," according to the arrest warrant. Two days before the fire, the warrant says, she tweeted "why did I have a child."

"Our thoughts are with Elijah's family at this time," New Haven State's Attorney John P. Doyle Jr. said in a statement. "Though nothing can bring back Elijah or lessen the pain of his loved ones, we hope today's prison sentence brings Elijah's family some measure of peace now that the person responsible for his senseless and unimaginable death has been brought to justice."

The case was prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Stacey M. Miranda and Assistant State's Attorney Melissa Holmes.

In:
• Murder
• Connecticut