Jurors heard testimony about more than 100 injuries before finding Lauren Maloberti guilty.
GREENSBURG, Pa. — Medical testimony about bruises, brain trauma and delayed treatment helped convict Lauren Maloberti of third-degree murder in the death of her adopted son, 5-year-old Landon Maloberti, after a nearly two-week trial in Westmoreland County.
The jury’s May 14 verdict followed nine days of testimony that focused on what doctors found after Landon was brought unconscious to a Pittsburgh-area hospital in January 2023. Prosecutors said his injuries showed long-running abuse, not a sudden medical emergency. Maloberti, 36, was also convicted of two counts of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy. She was acquitted of first-degree murder.
Landon arrived at AHN Hempfield on Jan. 30, 2023, and was later transferred to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. He died Feb. 7, 2023. Prosecutors said he had a catastrophic brain injury and blunt force injuries involving his head, neck, torso and extremities. Medical witnesses told jurors the boy had more than 100 injuries, many in different stages of healing. A pediatric child abuse expert described the pattern as child torture and medical neglect, according to the district attorney’s office.
That testimony gave prosecutors a timeline that stretched backward from the hospital visit. They argued Landon had been deteriorating before he was taken for help and that Maloberti waited until it was too late. Medical staff at the first hospital raised concerns because the child was unresponsive and badly injured. Prosecutors said the adults who brought him in showed little urgency and described him as wobbly after COVID weeks earlier. The defense disputed the state’s theory and said prosecutors could not prove who caused the fatal trauma.
Assistant District Attorney Cassidy Hatten framed the case as a death inside a household that should have been safe. She told jurors that Maloberti had taken on the role of an adoptive parent, then turned that duty into cruelty. Prosecutors said Landon had been isolated, humiliated and treated more harshly than other children in the home. Their case included testimony from relatives, children and medical experts, along with text messages between Lauren Maloberti and her husband, Jacob Maloberti.
The testimony described a child whose world had narrowed inside the Delmont house. Children told investigators that Landon was smacked, sprayed with water, forced to drink from a toilet and watched by a camera. Prosecutors said he was made to look for food in the kitchen after bedtime and was kept away from family members, neighbors and school. Relatives said they saw a difference between how Maloberti treated Landon and how she treated the other children. Those details were used to support the state’s claim that the injuries were part of a wider pattern.
Family witnesses also described shifting explanations after Landon was hospitalized. Erika Dilascio, Maloberti’s sister-in-law and longtime friend, testified that Maloberti initially seemed loving and caring toward Landon but later grew frustrated with him. Dilascio said Maloberti complained that the boy misbehaved and did not show affection. After Landon’s injuries became known, Dilascio said she asked Maloberti what happened and found the explanation of a slip and fall hard to accept. A fall, she told jurors, did not explain why a child would fail to wake up.
Text messages read in court gave jurors another kind of record. Prosecutors said one message from July 2022 showed Lauren Maloberti writing that she had just beaten Landon. Another exchange from August 2022 included her saying Landon better behave, followed by a warning that he was going to get it. Prosecutors used those messages to argue that abuse was visible months before the hospital visit. The defense argued that the messages did not prove who caused the fatal brain injury.
Jacob Maloberti became both a defendant in a separate case and a witness in his wife’s trial. He testified that he did not hurt Landon and had believed the child’s collapse was tied to a medical issue. “I always thought it was medical,” he told jurors while describing what he believed before the arrests. Lauren Maloberti then testified and accused Jacob of being the violent parent. She said she heard Landon screaming behind a locked bathroom door and believed Jacob had caused the injuries that led to the hospital visit.
The jury did not find Lauren Maloberti guilty of first-degree murder, but it convicted her on the third-degree murder count and related charges after about three hours of deliberation. District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli praised the jury and said prosecutors and detectives had handled a difficult investigation with care. Defense attorney Adam Gorzelsky said the first-degree murder count never should have been charged and said the case was closer to involuntary manslaughter than third-degree murder.
Maloberti’s sentencing is pending. The third-degree murder conviction and other counts expose her to a possible prison term of up to 80 years. Jacob Maloberti remains charged with criminal homicide and related counts, and his case is moving separately through Westmoreland County court. His attorney has indicated he is seeking a potential plea agreement to lesser charges.
The court record now stands on the medical findings that jurors heard in detail: an unconscious child, a severe brain injury, more than 100 wounds and expert testimony that described torture and neglect. The next milestone is Lauren Maloberti’s sentencing, with Jacob Maloberti’s case still unresolved.
Author note: Last updated May 25, 2026.