Jury Deliberating Fate Of Mother Accused In Sons' Deaths
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — A jury is deciding whether a Palisade woman understood the risk of leaving her sons in her running SUV with the heater on.
The jury of eight women and four men began deliberations in the Heather Jensen case Thursday.
Two-year-old William and 4-year-old Tyler died of hyperthermia after Jensen left them in her SUV last November while she had sex and smoked marijuana in another vehicle nearby.
The 25-year-old is charged with two counts of criminally negligent homicide, two counts of child abuse resulting in death and false reporting to authorities.
Mesa County forensic pathologist Rob Kurtzman testified that dying of hyperthermia is very unusual. Jensen's lawyer says she couldn't have foreseen the risk of leaving her sons in the vehicle.
She could face 24 years in prison if convicted.
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