TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Judge To Review Mom's Verdict In Boy's Drowning

ADVERTISEMENT

By THOMAS W.  KRAUSE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 27, 2008

TAMPA - A judge is trying to decide whether he will overturn a jury verdict that determined a 21-year-old woman is guilty of child neglect in the drowning of her 9-month-old son.

In court today, Assistant Public Defender Samantha Ward asked Circuit Judge William Fuente to throw out the conviction. She cited several similar cases in Florida where parents' actions were negligent but not to the point of being criminal.

In May, a jury determined that Katrina Brooks was not guilty of aggravated manslaughter of a child but was guilty of the lesser charge of child neglect for leaving her son in a running bathtub while having a discussion with her aunt in the next room of Brooks' mobile home.

Fuente asked Ward and Assistant State Attorney Anthony Duran to conduct more research into negligence cases and return to court in July.

If Fuente agrees with the defense, Brooks' conviction will be overturned, although the state attorney's office can appeal Fuente's ruling. If Fuente agrees with the prosecution, he will sentence Brooks at the July hearing.

Brooks faces a maximum of five years in prison. With no other felony convictions, however, the maximum is unlikely. Had Brooks been convicted of the manslaughter charge, she could have faced up to 30 years in prison.

On Aug. 3, Brooks' aunt went to the mobile home for a visit. Brooks put her son, Gene Vincent Kent, in a tub with her 2-year-old daughter. The water was running.

Her aunt, Sherrill West, testified at trial that they had been speaking for about a half hour when West began to leave.

That's when she heard Brooks scream from the other room. Brooks found Gene floating in the water.

At trial, the medical examiner said it is not possible to tell how long the baby had been under water and said the child could have drowned in one to five minutes.

Sheriff's deputies have said Brooks left the children alone while she was having a conversation about marijuana. The judge, however, ruled that the jury could not hear that allegation.

The marijuana discussion, Fuente ruled, was overly prejudicial, and there was no evidence Brooks had smoked marijuana that day.

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT