NORWICH – A mother accused of killing her adopted son pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Chenango County Court Tuesday.

Heather Franklin said the couple's adopted son had unintentionally died after she and her husband left him tied to a bed for several hours without care. She said the couple then set fire to their home to cover the death up.

Heather Franklin, 34, of Guilford pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, a class B felony, third-degree arson, a class C felony, and tampering with physical evidence, a class E felony.

According to Chenango County Court Judge Frank Revoir, Jr., Franklin could have served 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the second-degree murder charge at trial. Revoir said a significant aspect of the plea agreement revolved around the recent conviction of her husband and co-defendant, Ernest Franklin.

He said as part of the plea deal in this case, Franklin will receive between 7 and 11 years in prison with 10 years of probation. He added that Franklin would be required to sign a waiver of appeal, severally limiting her ability to appeal the plea deal in the future.

During her husband's trial, prosecutors said at around midnight on March 1, 2017 at their home at 457 State Route 8 in the Town of Guilford, Franklin worked with her husband to kill their 16-year-old disabled son Jeffrey Franklin and burn the evidence.

As part of her plea deal, Franklin was required to testify about certain aspects of the crime, and during that testimony she didn't say anything about killing her adopted son.

She said she worked with her husband to tie the hands of Jeffrey Franklin over his head onto the bed in his bedroom, left the house for several hours, and when they came back he was still restrained. She added that when they went to untie him, they discovered he was dead.

"Did you then untie Jeffrey, change the position of his body, and proceed to set the home on fire and absent yourselves from the scene?" asked Revoir.

Franklin responded that she did.