ST. GEORGE — A woman who attempted to murder her then 8-year-old son at the St. George Motel 6 in 2021 was sentenced Thursday to a year in jail.

Megan Michelle Stewart, who turns 30 next Wednesday, had made a plea agreement with Washington County prosecutors in June to plead guilty to the first-degree charge of attempted murder in exchange for lesser charges, including child abuse, to be dropped.

In the agreement, Stewart admitted to attempting to suffocate her son with a pillow at Motel 6 on 1000 East in St. George on Aug. 26, 2021, then stabbing him in the neck with scissors. The murder attempt drew a large police response. 

During the hearing at the 5th District Courthouse, Judge John Walton agreed to the terms of the agreement withholding the usual prison sentence for the crime of three years to life in state prison. Instead, Stewart will be jailed for the next year at Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, where she has been held since August 2021. She will not be credited with time served but could be released early with good behavior. 

In addition, Walton ordered 48 months’ probation for Stewart once she is released from jail, which prohibits unsupervised contact with children under 18. That includes her son, who is now 10 years old and is in the process of being adopted by Stewart’s out-of-state brother and wife, Stewart’s defense lawyer Ryan Stout said. 

Other conditions of the four-year probation include mental health evaluations, no alcohol or going into a bar, and no unprescribed drugs or being in the company of someone with such medications. 

After Walton passed the sentence, Stewart addressed the court. Wearing the Purgatory jail uniform of white and dark-gray stripes and in shackles, Stewart apologized for her crime and blamed medicine she took for her back that caused her to “see ghosts.”

“I apologize to you, your honor, to everyone, especially my son, for what he went through. I can’t change it, it hurts every day. I love him so much,” Stewart said to the court. “I took some medicine, sir, and it was for my back. My back was out of place, and it made me react and start seeing ghosts and things that shouldn’t happen. I’m just glad that my son made it, and I would like to still be in his life.”

Stewart, noticeably shorter in stature than anyone else standing in the courtroom, had her face obscured much of the time by either her long hair or by her defense lawyer.

“I just would like a chance to be off that medicine and show you all who I am … as a mother, as a person and as a human,” she said.

Stewart’s son was not in the courtroom, nor were any apparent family or friends. 

Prosecutors have said Stewart’s son has reconciled with his mom and has had regular supervised video contact with her, and will continue to do so while the adoption process continues with his uncle. 

Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke has previously cited the mental illness of Stewart and the wishes of the now 10-year-old. The county’s prosecuting attorney, Eric Gentry, repeated those claims in court on Thursday, saying that the feelings of Stewart’s child need to be taken into account.

“A major factor is the victim in this case has not wanted to see her go to prison,” said Gentry, who if confirmed by the Utah Senate will shortly become a judge himself in the same courthouse. “It’s horrific what she did, but this is unusual behavior for Stewart. She has a history of mental illness and she has been a model prisoner in jail. We are convinced this was a psychotic break she went through.”

For the defense, Stout noted even if Stewart had received the normal sentence for her crime, with time served and the minimum sentence she would be getting out of prison a year from now in any case.

“If the sentence was three years, she would be out very soon,” Stout said.

Stewart also waived extradition to a current warrant out for violating probation for a previous DUI in Colorado. She also had previously pled guilty in February 2021 to a shoplifting charge in Washington County.

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