Face of evil: Iowa mother is jailed for life for killing one-year-old son by pouring bleach on his face then smothering him with her bare hands

An Iowa mother has been jailed for life for killing her one-year-old son by pouring bleach on his face then smothering him with her bare hands in the ghastly crime.

Yemissi N. Keto, 26, was found guilty by a Dallas County jury on Thursday, and charged with first-degree murder child endangerment in the August 2023 death of her one-year-old son, Local 5 News reported.

Keto poured bleach and other cleaning chemicals over her child's face as she held his mouth and nose closed, then suffocated him.

The woman confessed to the heinous crime, though a motive is unknown. According to a criminal complaint, Keto 'admitted these actions were taken with the intent to kill [the child],'  Law & Crime reported.

First-degree murder in Iowa carries a mandatory minimum of life in prison.  Keto is expected to appear in court on April 26 for her sentencing.

Yemissi N. Keto, 26, was found guilty by a Dallas County jury on Thursday, and charged with first-degree murder child endangerment in the August 2023 death of her one-year-old son, Local 5 News reported

Officers from the Waukee Police Department responded to a call at a home in the 200 block of NW Greenwood Place (pictured) around 9.56am on August 31, 2023 where the heinous crime took place 

Officers from the Waukee Police Department responded to a call at a home in the 200 block of NW Greenwood Place around 9.56am on August 31, 2023. 

The call that came in was decribed as an 'unknown problem,' according a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law & Crime.

When police and emergency personnel entered the home around they found the infant, identified as 'DK' in an upstairs bedroom unresponsive. 

First responders tried to resuscitate the baby, but he was pronounced deceased, as per the news outlet.

Officers recalled a 'strong odor of bleach' and found a number of bottles of bleach and other cleaning products near the child. 

The bedroom carpter where the child was found was wet, as well as the bathroom floor that was connected to the boy's room, as per the criminal complaint, the news outlet reported.

When the mother was brought in for questioning, she 'admitted to holding DK on the ground and pouring bleach or another cleaning substance over his face,' police wrote in the affidavit, noting that she did so 'with the intent to kill DK,' as per the news outlet.

She decided to killer her son with her own hands, when the bleach failed to make him pass out, as per the complaint.