Mom guilty of manslaughter in 3-year-old son’s 1986 disappearance
More than 35 years after her 3-year-old son vanished from a swap meet in North Las Vegas, his mother pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter on Friday.
Amy Elizabeth Fleming, now 63, entered a type of guilty plea known as an Alford plea, which means she admitted only that prosecutors have enough evidence to prove her guilt.
Prosecutors said that for years Fleming was suspected in the disappearance of Francillon Pierre, last seen Aug. 2, 1986, at the then-Broad Acres swap meet in North Las Vegas.
“I maintain my innocence along with these facts,” Fleming said via video conference at the court hearing. She is scheduled to be sentenced to up to two years behind bars in December.
Fleming was initially charged with murder in 2019 and arrested in Palm Beach, Florida, after a development prompted detectives to reopen the cold case.
At the time, authorities said North Las Vegas police had learned that someone tried to apply for a birth certificate in Francillon’s name.
During the original investigation, Fleming and her then-fiance, Lee Luster, claimed the boy had slipped away from them while they shopped for a bicycle at the swap meet on Las Vegas Boulevard North. Witnesses at the meet said they hadn’t seen Francillon, and neighbors said they hadn’t seen the boy leave the house in weeks, police said.
Both Fleming and Lee served time in jail for lying during police interviews. Police said the two rarely discussed Francillon’s disappearance in letters they wrote to each other.
It remains unclear how Francillon died.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
