Parents Charged With Criminal Child Abuse Deny Responsibility For 10-Year-Old Son’s Death
Jennifer and her husband, Joseph, are being charged with criminal child abuse in the 2015 death of their 10-year-old son, Dominic. Joseph is currently incarcerated on a probation violation, while Jennifer, who is free, says she’s working to get her husband out of jail. The case is pending.
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The couple says their child died from sepsis, and an overdose of hydro hydrocodone, which they were giving him for pain from a bruised hip.
Jennifer, who is a registered nurse, acknowledges she gave her son “half of one of one of my pills which is five milligrams when he was screaming in his sleep crying because he was in so much pain. One time. And then the doctor gave us a prescription for it – the same thing.” She’s claiming that organ failure due to Dominic’s sepsis caused him to not metabolize the drug.
“He hadn’t had a hydrocodone in six hours by the time he woke up,” says Joseph about the day their son died. In a phone interview from jail, Joseph denies that he and Jennifer are responsible for Dominic’s death.
Why does Joseph claim the charges against them were brought as a reprisal for a medical negligence suit they were pursuing against their son’s doctor.
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