A Slatington woman cried softly Wednesday as she explained to a Lehigh County judge how she accidentally shot her 19-month-old son in the head, killing him, while unloading a gun she planned to sell to a drug dealer.
In shackles, Holly Pallone, 27, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, a felony that carries up to 10 years in prison. She choked up while quietly recalling her last moments of freedom — her son's last moments alive. The courtroom was otherwise silent as the judge, attorneys and the audience listened.
Pallone told Judge James T. Anthony she was sitting on her bed, unloading the .44-caliber revolver just before midnight Oct. 6 in preparation of selling it to an Allentown drug dealer named "Low." She said she didn't want drugs from the dealer, just $200, but acknowledged he had sold her heroin in the past.
"I took the gun out of the closet and I was trying to unload it," she said, crying. "I don't know what happened — it just went off."
Pallone said she had never handled a gun before.
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Pallone, who said she only went as far as the 10th grade but earned her GED, told Anthony she suffers from a variety of mental health issues, including bi-polar disorder, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
She said that on the night of the shooting she was on Suboxone, a drug used to help heroin addicts, and Klonopin, used to treat anxiety. It's unclear if either was prescribed, but Pallone told Anthony she was "self-medicating" and said she only remembers "bits and pieces" of the shooting.
When Anthony asked her what the drug dealer's real name is, she replied, "I don't know."
In return for the plea, a misdemeanor reckless endangerment charge was dropped.
Deputy District Attorney Anna-Kristie Morffi Marks said no deal was made between attorneys regarding how much time Pallone will spend behind bars.
Pallone, represented by public defender John Baurkot, said she was serving a year of probation for a retail theft in Carbon County when she accidentally shot her son, and Anthony noted that probation violation could land her in jail for up to seven years. The probation violation will be handled in Carbon County.
Pallone, who has been in Lehigh County Prison under $1 million bail, is scheduled to be sentenced for the shooting next month.