A court in Guangzhou has sentenced an elderly mother to probation for killing her mentally handicapped son, reports thepaper.cn.

The 83-year-old fed her 46-years old son with sleeping pills and then smothered him to death at their shared home in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province on May 9, 2017. She turned herself into the police on the same day.

The mother, only identified by her surname Huang, describes it as a mercy killing, saying her son - who born with a brain disorder - was starting to suffer physically after being bed-ridden.

She also testified that she feared for her son's future due to her own concern that she was going to die, leaving him helpless.

"With my care, he had better food and better company," said Huang, after being asked why she didn't seek hospice care for her son.

Huang's other son, along with other family members, petitioned the court to show mercy in the case.

While she has been found guilty of intentional homicide, the court says it's based its sentence on her voluntary confession, her advanced age and the pleas of her family.

"It's a special case in which the mother killed her son out of love. This is hugely different compared with other violent homicide cases," said Wan Yunfeng, head of the court in Yuexiu District in Guangzhou.

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