Texas Mom Gets Life Sentence for Murder After Leaving Bedridden Daughter Alone so She Can Party

Lauren Kay Dean Jordynn Barrera Bay City police cerebral palsy Down Syndrome child abandonment

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald Oct 12, 04:42 pm

A Texas mom will spend the rest of her life in prison for leaving her seven-year-old bedridden daughter home alone with her younger siblings so that she could go out partying, People Magazine reported.

The case started in January 2020 when Bay City police conducted a welfare check at the home of Lauren Kay Dean. When the officers arrived at the scene, they discovered the body of Jordynn Barrera.

According to prosecutors, Barrera had cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. The young girl was non-communicative and required a feeding tube. The child's doctor later told police that Barrera needed round-the-clock care.

Dean charged with capital murder of a person under the age of 10

Cops determined during their investigation that Dean, then a 26-year-old single mother, had left her sick daughter home alone with her two younger siblings, aged five years and three months. She then went to a bar near her home called Shade's Nightclub. While she was having fun there, her daughter died while left alone without adult supervision.

The other two kids were not harmed but were removed from the home, according to Yahoo. The mom of three was initially charged with three felony counts of endangerment and abandonment of a child, placing the kids in imminent danger of bodily injury. Dean was subsequently charged with capital murder of a person under the age of 10 for the death of Barrera.

According to the Bay City Tribune, Dean decided to plead guilty to spare herself a trial and the possible death penalty sentence. She was given a life sentence instead for the murder charge. Dean also was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the other charges. Those sentences will be served concurrently.

Dean was booked into the Matagorda County Jail soon after. She did not address the court when her plea deal was entered.

Child abandonment is a serious matter in the U.S.

More than 7,000 American kids are left orphaned or abandoned each year, according to SK Pop. The likelihood of low self-esteem, emotional disorders, and other physical and mental problems in these children is high.

The concept of child abandonment in the United States is extremely broad. It encompasses a variety of punishments and actions that range from state to state.

Child abandonment happens when a parent or guardian either neglects their kid's needs or completely abandons them, disregarding their safety and welfare. It also transpires when a parent or guardian drops their kid at a certain location without the intent of picking them up again.

Some examples of child abandonment include leaving a kid in the care of another individual without making arrangements for their upkeep, six months without a regular visitation schedule with the kid, refusing to answer the summons of child protection or child custody, and leaving a child home alone for a sufficient period to risk harm.