A mother who left her 2-year-old son in the car for 14 hours has been sentenced to 20 years in jail.
21-year-old Ashley Howard was found guilty of the death of her son after she left Caleb Hopkins in her vehicle while she partied with her friends.
Howard, who was 19 at that time, said she wanted to sleep the alcohol off for a few hours but did not go back to her car until 1 pm the following day.
She rushed her unresponsive son to Glendive Medical Center where Caleb was admitted with a temperature of 107 degrees.
The child was then transferred to Billings Hospital where he passed away two days later.
The young mother initially pleaded not guilty to any responsibility in Caleb’s death but prosecutors argued that she didn’t take any responsibility for her actions.
Howard told the court on Monday: “I struggle with saying that I killed my son. Because nobody wants to be the reason their son is no longer here.
“I miss him every day. I know that I will always love my son and I will always miss him.”
She also said that she struggled with her self-esteem and anxiety. “Yes, I agree, my decisions were selfish,” she expressed.
The child’s grandmother, Marsha Hopkins, said during the hearing: “You will have to live with the fact that you alone killed Caleb.
“Do I think that you meant to? No. Do I think that you could have prevented it, absolutely. You knew what could have happened if you left him in the car, and you made that choice.”
The heartbroken grandmother also admonished Howard for saying she did not have support, adding that she and her husband always offered to help watch over the child.
“I don’t think we will ever have closure,” Hopkins added.
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