Beverly mother convicted of attempted murder for withholding cancer meds from son

After the verdict, defense attorney Kevin James asked for a continuance, "given the unique nature of this case,'' so he could make a better argument for sentencing. "I have a lot of people I'd like to get in touch with," he said.

Judge Richard Welch, noting that LaBrie had been convicted of "very serious crimes," set a sentencing hearing for 9 a.m. Friday. The attempted murder charge carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years.

No victim impact statements were expected because the boy's father, Eric Fraser, died in a motorcycle accident in 2010, prosecutors said.

LaBrie failed to provide chemotherapy medication in the months after her son was diagnosed in October 2006 with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Once doctors realized that he had not been taking the prescribed medications, in February 2008, Jeremy was placed in the custody of his father. The boy died in March 2009 at the age of 9, after his illness progressed to leukemia.

On Monday, a prosecutor posted a picture of a young, smiling Jeremy Fraser for the courtroom to see, then asked the jury during closing arguments to hold LaBrie responsible for attempted murder.

“He was a little boy, he was her little boy, and he had an opportunity for a miracle . . . and she took that from him, she stole that from him,’’ Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall said.

“That was not a tragic mistake,’’ MacDougall added, “That was not an accident. That was in every sense of the word criminal.’’

James said in his closing argument that the single mother withheld the chemotherapy medications because she could no longer bear the pain they were causing her son. He added that she was depressed and overwhelmed by the care of Jeremy, who also had autism.

James, the defense attorney, said his client made a mistake, but that it was not a criminal act, arguing she never had the malice or willful intent to cause harm to her child.

“Ms. LaBrie was unable to put chemotherapy medication into her son’s body,’’ he said. “Her coping and ability to do what she had to do started to wane. The Commonwealth wants to take this tragic set of circumstances and turn it into a criminal prosecution.’’

LaBrie was also convicted of assault and battery on a disabled person with injury, assault and battery on a child with substantial injury, and reckless endangerment of a child.

The panel of seven women and five men deliberated for five hours Monday. The jury reached a verdict at about 10:30 this morning.

At one point Monday, jurors asked Judge Welch about a parent’s legal responsibility to administer prescribed medications. Over the objection of the defense, the judge responded by saying a parent would be required to administer medications if they would protect a child from significant harm.

Welch also told jurors that they would have to conclude on their own whether prosecutors had convinced them that LaBrie’s decision not to provide medication legally qualified as an “overt action’’ under the state’s attempted murder law.

The weeklong trial included testimony by Jeremy’s doctors and social workers, LaBrie’s pharmacist, and one of her relatives. The mother also took the stand to provide her account of the treatment of her son.

LaBrie told jurors that she thought her son was cancer-free, and that she withheld the prescribed medication because of the pain it caused him.

MacDougall, through the cross-examination of LaBrie, sought to paint the mother as an exaggerator who abused her child by withholding the medication. She also said LaBrie lied about administering the medications because she realized what she was doing was wrong.

MacDougall said in her closing argument that LaBrie did not show the emotions typical of a mother who lost her child, stating that she got a haircut and took vacations after losing custody of Jeremy to Eric Fraser.

James argued that his client was overwhelmed by raising Jeremy on her own, and that officials at Massachusetts General Hospital — where Jeremy was receiving care — should have done more to determine whether she was suitable to administer the treatments. “The child required more care than one person could give,’’ he said. “You have to make him sick [by giving him the drugs], but she failed to do it, she couldn’t do it . . . because she loved the child.’’

MacDougall said that the mother took the responsibility for her child, and that she failed to follow his interest in completing the medication, even if he was suffering from pain. “They asked her to do what they ask every parent to do,’’ she said.

Martin Finucane and John R. Ellement of the Globe staff contributed to this report.