A Miami mother who tried to hire a hitman online to kill her then 3-year-old son will not serve prison time, after a judge signed off on a plea deal that keeps her under court supervision for years to come.
On Monday, 20-year-old Jazmin Paez admitted in court that she attempted to arrange her child’s murder. Instead of a prison term, she was sentenced to a blend of community control, long-term reporting probation and court-ordered behavioral therapy. The boy is now living with relatives and has been adopted by Paez’s mother.
As reported by NBC 6 South Florida, Paez pleaded guilty to soliciting first-degree murder, unlawful use of a communications device and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors agreed to a withhold of adjudication, which means she will not be legally treated as a convicted felon if she completes her sentence. The judge ordered two years of community control, followed by 12 years of reporting probation, along with mandatory behavioral therapy that will continue until professionals determine she no longer needs it. In court, Paez stated she has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Paez’s arrest traces back to July 2023, when investigators say she went on the parody website RentAHitman.com and submitted a request for someone to kill her child. According to Local 10, her online form included a photo of the boy, an offer of about $3,000 and detailed information about where he could be found. The specifics were troubling enough that the site’s operator alerted law enforcement. Detectives then used the IP address and phone number Paez provided to track her to a relative’s home, where she was arrested.
The spoof site’s operator, Robert Innes, said the message immediately jumped out from the usual prank traffic because it contained verifiable information instead of obvious jokes. He told reporters those concrete details were a “red flag,” according to The Guardian.
Plea deal and legal consequences
Under the plea agreement, prosecutors signed off on the withhold of adjudication, sparing Paez a formal felony conviction while keeping her closely tethered to the courts for more than a decade. As outlined by NBC 6 South Florida, the deal trades a potential prison sentence for strict oversight, therapy requirements and limits on contact with her son. Authorities had previously said Paez was looking at as much as 40 years behind bars if the case had gone to trial and ended in conviction.
Mental health and family reaction
Publicly, Paez’s family has tried to frame the case through the lens of her medical history. Her father told reporters she is “not a monster” and has long struggled with health issues, according to The Guardian. In 2023, dependency-court proceedings placed the boy with his grandmother before he was later adopted by Paez’s mother, per Local 10.
The plea brings a three-year legal saga to a close while leaving a complicated set of questions in its wake about punishment, public safety and mental health treatment in serious criminal cases. For now, the child remains in the care of kin, and court records indicate that Paez’s lengthy probation will control if and how she is allowed to have contact with him for years to come.
