I cannot begin to explain the irritation I have endured for the past 5 years watching young mothers on their cell phones and texting--including my own daughter!
Mom on Facebook sentenced in son's drowning death
AP
GREELEY, Colo. – A northern Colorado woman who was playing a game on Facebook while her 13-month-old baby drowned in a bathtub was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.
Shannon Johnson, 34, of Fort Lupton was also sentenced to five years of mandatory parole following her prison term.
The Greeley Tribune reported that Johnson cried as District Judge Thomas Quammen told her he didn't think she was a bad person or that she killed her son on purpose. That doesn't mean what she did wasn't criminal, he added.
Johnson was charged with child abuse that knowingly or recklessly caused death. She pleaded guilty to negligent child abuse in March.
The charges made her eligible for community corrections or probation, but authorities rejected both, saying they didn't want to play down the seriousness of her crime.
Johnson said she found her son, Joseph, sideways and face-down in a bathtub last September. She told investigators she had been playing the game Cafe World and sharing videos on Facebook in another room while her son was alone in a bathtub full of water.
Johnson called 911 to say Joseph wasn't breathing. Paramedics were able to revive the toddler but he was pronounced dead at a Denver hospital.
Johnson said her son was independent and wanted to be alone in the tub.
Posted By: Marta Fernandez
Friday, April 15th 2011 at 6:52PM
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