Mother Accused of Killings Pleads Guilty to Child Abuse

A Calvert County woman accused of killing two of her adopted daughters and stuffing their bodies into a freezer pleaded guilty Friday to abusing a third, surviving daughter.

Renee Bowman, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree child abuse stemming from eight months of harm inflicted on her 7-year-old daughter, authorities said. The girl was found wandering her neighborhood in Lusby last September, and told police she had jumped out of a window of her locked bedroom.

Laura Martin, Calvert County's state's attorney, said she will seek a 25-year term for Bowman at a December sentencing hearing, which is the maximum for the child abuse charge.

Last year, Bowman admitted beating the child with a "hard-heeled shoe," Calvert authorities have said. She also faces murder charges in Montgomery County related to the deaths of her two older daughters. A trial is scheduled for Nov. 9, according to court records.

The county's top prosecutor, John McCarthy, said he doesn't expect an insanity defense because the deadline for that has passed.