A California mother who ordered her children to crawl under an abandoned train to board a bus, resulting in the horrific death of her 8-year-old daughter, has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Joy Collins, 49, on Tuesday tearfully pleaded with a judge to spare her freedom, saying she wished she had acted differently on Dec. 17, 2018, ABC30 station reported.
That night, the mother was walking with her two children, an 8-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son, in Fresno.
The family hurried to get to the bus stop, and Collins had her children crawl under the train that stopped on the tracks.
Collins’ son made it across safely, but his daughter, Joyanna Harris, was hit by the train, which started moving.
The child was dragged 500 feet and partially dismembered.
The photos taken by police at the scene were so gruesome that when they were shown in court during Collins’ trial this fall, the mother asked to step out of the room.
Collins was convicted in October of two counts of child abuse and endangerment, after a former police detective testified that he was heard telling his children to “hurry up” or they would miss the bus, WPDE reported.
Joy Collins asked the judge for mercy at her sentencing in Fresno, California, saying she regretted her actions.
Unfortunately, the freight train idled for only 12 seconds, not giving Collins’ daughter enough time to walk the tracks.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t regret all of that, and I do,” Collins said during Tuesday’s sentencing. “And I beg your mercy so I don’t have to go to jail.”
“I’m very sorry, as I said, to the public and everything for everything that happened at that time,” he added.
Joy Collins, 49, was sentenced to six years in prison for making her 8-year-old daughter crawl under an idling train, resulting in her death in 2018.
The mother’s defense attorney, Mark Broughton, asked that his client be given probation.
But the judge overruled the woman’s appeal and her attorney’s request, and sentenced her to six years to be served in state prison.
He must also pay a $1,200 fine.
Collins’ son was raised by his grandparents.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
