Police found him sleeping in a stranger's bed, after he apparently broke in through a window. The child's behavior, which authorities attributed to fetal alcohol syndrome, seemed familiar to Kellerman because she sees the impact of the condition daily on her own adopted son, John. Although he's 19, John's mental development more closely resembles a child of 10 or 12, his mother said. Emotionally, he acts about 6 or 7, she said. Attorney Carla Ryan argued in court last week that Eastlack's fetal alcohol syndrome contributed to the crime.
Prosecutors blame the murders and robbery on greed and anger.
Whether the syndrome's effects provide a valid defense in court remains to be seen. But doctors, researchers and social service professionals agree that the disabilities caused when a mother drinks during pregnancy can forever alter the course of a child's life. Kellerman's adopted son smelled of alcohol when he arrived in the world 19 years ago, born to a woman whom doctors said was drunk when she arrived at the hospital, Kellerman said. She took him home six weeks and two more pounds later. But they were back at the hospital within six months, when John was diagnosed with a hole in his heart that required open-heart surgery at age 2.