Jurors heard from Jacob Maloberti before convicting his wife of third-degree murder in Landon Maloberti’s death.
GREENSBURG, Pa. — Text messages and testimony from a charged husband became central evidence in the murder trial of Lauren Maloberti, who was convicted in Westmoreland County in the death of her 5-year-old adopted son.
The messages, read in court by detectives, gave jurors a written record prosecutors said showed abuse months before Landon Maloberti was taken unconscious to a hospital in January 2023. The testimony from Jacob Maloberti, Lauren Maloberti’s husband and co-defendant, gave prosecutors another route into the home. He told jurors he believed the child’s collapse was medical at first but later suspected his wife. The defense said Jacob Maloberti was shifting blame away from himself.
Prosecutors told jurors that one July 2022 message from Lauren Maloberti said she had “just got done beating” Landon. In August 2022, they said, another exchange began when Lauren Maloberti wrote that Landon “better behave.” Jacob Maloberti replied by asking whether the child had said anything. Lauren Maloberti answered, “He’s going to get it.” Those messages were presented alongside medical evidence that Landon had more than 100 injuries, many in different stages of healing. Prosecutors used the timing of the messages to argue that warning signs existed long before Landon was carried into a medical center.
Jacob Maloberti testified over two days during the trial and told jurors he did not harm Landon. He said he did not begin to question what happened to the boy until after the couple was arrested. “I didn’t start wondering until after we were arrested and I was told what I was told,” he said. He also testified that Lauren Maloberti once said during a court appearance that she had something to tell him but could not say it. Jacob Maloberti told jurors he had believed the child’s condition was tied to a medical problem. His testimony became one of the trial’s sharpest points because he remains charged in the same death.
Lauren Maloberti’s defense tried to turn that testimony against him. Her attorney, Adam Gorzelsky, argued that the prosecution did not know with certainty what happened inside the family home and had not proved that Lauren Maloberti caused the fatal injuries. Lauren Maloberti testified that her husband controlled punishment in the home and accused him of abusing her. She said she believed he beat Landon behind a locked bathroom door before the child was taken for treatment on Jan. 30, 2023. Prosecutors rejected that account and argued that her actions and words showed a pattern of harm toward the boy.
The jury convicted Lauren Maloberti on May 14 of third-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy. Jurors found her not guilty of first-degree murder, which would have meant a mandatory life sentence if she had been convicted. The panel deliberated for about three hours after a trial that included more than 45 prosecution witnesses over nine days. Prosecutors said the witnesses included pediatric child abuse experts, forensic pathologists, medical staff and investigators. The verdict left Jacob Maloberti’s case unresolved and placed his later proceedings under a brighter spotlight.
The evidence about Landon’s final medical crisis gave jurors a second track to consider apart from the text messages. Prosecutors said Landon was brought to AHN Hempfield on Jan. 30, 2023, while unconscious and was later transferred to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He died Feb. 7, 2023. Medical staff and experts testified that he had serious brain injuries and more than 100 injuries across his body. Prosecutors said the injuries were not all fresh, a point they used to support their claim that Landon had endured ongoing abuse. They also argued that Lauren Maloberti delayed seeking medical care when he needed it most.
Other witnesses described conditions and treatment inside the home. Prosecutors said Landon was isolated from family members, neighbors and school. Witnesses said he was kept apart from others, watched by a camera and treated differently than other children in the household. Jurors heard allegations that he was sprayed with water, forced to drink from a toilet and made to look for food after bedtime. A relative testified that he was often confined to a couch in the corner of the living room during visits. Prosecutors said those accounts matched a wider pattern shown by the texts and the medical findings.
The defense asked jurors to see the record in a different way. Gorzelsky said the case was complicated and that investigators focused on Lauren Maloberti without proving the precise moment or cause of Landon’s fatal injuries. He said the jury was right to reject first-degree murder and later said the defense had hoped for a lesser conviction such as involuntary manslaughter. Lauren Maloberti’s testimony placed responsibility on her husband. Jacob Maloberti’s testimony placed suspicion on her. That clash forced jurors to weigh two defendants who each had a reason to cast blame across the marriage.
Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli praised the prosecution team after the verdict. She said the case had been sensitive and complex from the start and thanked jurors for their time and attention. Prosecutors said Lauren Maloberti now faces a mandatory minimum of at least 15 years in prison for causing the death of a child, with a possible sentence of up to 80 years if the judge imposes consecutive terms. Her sentencing date had not been set in the reports reviewed for this article. Gorzelsky said she will appeal the verdict.
Jacob Maloberti remains charged with criminal homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy. His trial is expected later, and prosecutors will likely return to many of the same exhibits, including the messages, the medical findings and his own statements. As of June 15, Lauren Maloberti stands convicted but not yet sentenced, while her husband’s pending case keeps the legal focus on what happened inside the Delmont home before Landon’s death.
Author note: Last updated June 15, 2026.