San Diego

A young mother who abandoned her three children at a hospital before leaving on a trip with her boyfriend was sentenced Monday to 180 days in jail.

Deanna Sue Peters, 22, has already served 81 days in jail, including credit for good behavior, and has 99 days left to serve on her sentence.

San Diego Municipal Judge Rafael Arreola also placed Peters on five years’ probation and ordered her to comply with orders issued by the Juvenile Court since she lost custody of her children.

The children, all boys, were 4, 2, and 2 months old when they were abandoned June 10 at Paradise Valley Hospital.

Peters’ attorney, Donald LeVine, urged her immediate release from jail. But Deputy Dist. Atty. Eugenia Eyherabide urged the 180-day sentence, the maximum sentence reached in the plea bargain.

Peters pleaded guilty to one count of child abandonment in July. Two other charges were dismissed.

The prosecutor said the children have suffered nightmares about the incident.

Peters and her boyfriend, Richard Byford, 20, who had been living with Peters’ mother in Chula Vista, were arrested in Barstow several days after the children were abandoned. The couple were reportedly traveling to Colorado.

Byford pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the crime and last month was sentenced to 15 days of public service.