Texas mother gets life after bedridden seven-year-old daughter died home alone while she went out to bar
Police found child deceased during welfare check in January 2020
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
A mother has been sentenced to life behind bars for abandoning her daughter with Down’s syndrome at home while visiting a bar in Bay City, Texas, more than two years ago, according to reports.
Lauren Kay Dean, 28, was sentenced to life imprisonment and an extra 20 years for abandonment following a guilty plea in court last week over the death of her seven-year-old daughter, Jordynn Barrera, Law&Crime reported.
She was also accused of leaving her two other children unattended at home in Bay City, about 65 miles southwest of Houston, while visiting a nearby bar in January 2020 when Jordynn was found dead.
Her five and three-year-old children were meanwhile found alive at the address in the 2200 Block of Bordeaux, where Jordynn was bedridden due to medical conditions, police said.
“During the check, officers located a deceased seven year old female child inside the residence along with the mother of the child,”the Bay City Police Department said following the welfare check in January 2020. “The seven year old child was bed-ridden due to medical conditions.”
Dean was taken into custody and booked into Matagorda County jail on three separate charges of child abandnonment and imminent danger of bodily injury. She was later charged with murder according to Fox News.
In court, Dean pleaded guilty to capital murder and three counts of child abandonment as part of a plea agreement which avoided going to jury trial, where the 28-year-old could have faced the death penalty, The Bay City Tribune reported.
The 20 years for child abandonment will be served concurrently with the life sentence, the same report said.