Jacksonville Parents Sentenced with Child Neglect and Manslaughter

When you become a parent, you are taking on inherent responsibilities. You are committing to care for and provide for your new child, and these important tasks are enforceable by law. If you don't adhere to your new liabilities as a parent, then the courts can charge you with neglect or abuse, and Child Protective Services may displace the children from your home. As horrible as it sounds to lose your children, something even worse can happen. In Jacksonville, parents were bereft of their two small children when they drowned in the swimming pool after being left home alone. The mother left the family's Florida home without her three-year-old daughter Blessing and their six-year-old son Gerrard.

On the fateful day, the small kids were able to make their way to their neighbor's pool, where they jumped in before they ascertained that they did not have the ability to swim. According to her testimony, this now-childless mother was late for work, and assumed that her husband would be home from his job any minute. She figured it would be fine to leave the children in the house for the 5 to 10 minutes before her husband arrived. Upon further investigation, officials found that the parents had not left their children for a matter of minutes, but for three hours. The mother was charged with two counts of manslaughter, her husband was given a sentence for child neglect with great bodily harm.

Both parents will face years in prison. The wide will most likely be given 60 years of incarceration, and her husband will suffer 30. The assistant state attorney who worked on the case says that it was one of the most difficult trials that he has ever had to deal with. If you are suffering in a family abuse case, you need representation. With the help of a Jacksonville family lawyer from Ellerin Hutchinson, you can get the representation you need to fight for an outcome you want.