Mom Who Fed Baby Cow's Milk After Hurricane Katrina Recommended for Prison Release

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"I switched it to organic milk. I thought he was doing better, but he wasn't thriving." Tiffany Woods, who has already served 17 years in prison, said

New Orleans mother, Tiffany Woods, has been recommended for release from a Louisiana prison.

Woods was found guilty of causing her child's malnutrition death by feeding the infant cow's milk while fleeing Hurricane Katrina.

It has been reported that the Louisiana pardon board has now voted to release Woods after 17 years in prison for second-degree murder, per the Associated Press and the Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.

The now 43-year-old has been serving a life sentence for the 2005 death of her son, Emmanuel, who was five months old at the time.

Woods, who has three other children, fed Emmanuel cow's milk instead of baby formula, causing his death from malnutrition, prosecutors said during her trial.

Emmanuel was born prematurely, a couple months before Hurricane Katrina, and was diagnosed with a genetic abnormality. However, according to the Advocate, Woods was not made aware of the severity of her son's condition when discharged from the hospital.

Woods and her family fled the hurricane, taking shelter 300 miles away. It was then that the troubles began.

"The formula he was taking, he wasn't swallowing. He was always throwing it up, and then we ran out of WIC (food) vouchers, so I decided to switch it ... I switched it to organic milk. I thought he was doing better, but he wasn't thriving," Woods told the parole board this week.

"My family wasn't around me," the mother said. "I didn't know whether they was alive or not. And I made poor choices and my son lost his life because of me."

The prosecution said that Emmanuel was not taken to a doctor despite his severe health decline.

The CDC warns against introducing cow's milk to a child under 12 months of age.

Both Woods and the child's father, Emmanuel Scott, were convicted of second-degree murder in 2006.

Suzanne Ellis, who was part of the prosecution in the couple's trial, disagreed with Woods' potential release.

"I will go to my grave remembering this baby," she said, per AP. "This baby was the most pitiful thing I have seen in 26 years. Please do not give her an opportunity at release. Do not give her an opportunity to harm another child, because I am convinced that if she can, she will."

Whether or not Woods' sentence is commuted is up to Gov. John Bel Edwards.