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14-Month Old Drowns, Mom Jailed On Neglect Charges
August 29, 2013
A 14-month old drowned in small pond late Wednesday afternoon off 10 Mile Road, and the child’s mother is now behind bars.
Jennifer Lynn Eiland, 31, is charged with four counts of child neglect — one count for each of her surviving children — and is being held in the Escambia County Jail without bond. The investigation into the drowning is continuing, and additional charges may be filed.
According to witnesses, a neighbor discovered the lifeless body of a 14-month old girl in a landscaping pond just after 5:30 p.m. in the 10600 block of Betmark Road. He had been alerted to the child by one of the child’s siblings. First responders attempted rescue efforts, but the child was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at a local hospital.
Neighbor Larry Kruger made the discovery in his front yard after one of Eiland’s children knocked on his door. The little girl’s body was under a small bridge the crosses the pond, which is less than two feet deep.
Investigators found “unsanitary living conditions” in the Betmark Road home where Eiland and her children were living at the time of the drowning, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
The child’s father, a Merchant Marine, returned home from being at sea following the incident.
Initial reports indicate that Eiland has had prior abuse allegations in Alabama. According to investigators, the children,whose ages range from three to eight,had been placed in foster care and were only returned to the care of their mother in recent months.
Pictured top and bottom: Larry Kruger (bottom photo) discovered the lifeless body of a nieghbor’s 14-month old girl in his landscaping pond about 5:30 Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Joe Douglass WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
24 Responses to “14-Month Old Drowns, Mom Jailed On Neglect Charges”
Article stated the father of the child is a merchant marine and was at sea.
So sad. This is just terrible . I hope the man that owns the pond don’t get sued , but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. Sad for all involved.
WOW THIS IS SAD I CANT AMGIN FOR WHAT THE FAMLY MIBERS THAINK
She has been arrested, but not had a trial yet. I’m not throwing stones until that happens. I’m more concerned with what the other kids are going through. Loss of the baby, loss of their home and mom…. State taking them in and out of their mom’s custody. Makes me wonder if the children have a chance in life.
My thoughts and prayers not only out the witnesses and family, but also for the firemen and the ems crew that try their hardest to save the little girl’s life. They may see things like this many times over but you must know it never get easier to deal with.
It’s said to say but when people on welfare keep having kids, there should be a limit to the number of kids the state will pay for. Mandatory birth control, I know that hits people on a religious grounds, but that is the reason there is a separation of church and state in government actions. Society has to make decisions for people that are either not responsible or too lazy to make then for their own. Where is the father of these kids in this story? If the house was that bad, he should be up on charges as well…if this was a single parent, stop having kids on the state dime…statement goes back to the second sentence. This is just another issue in the moral decay of today’s society; that lack of caring, supervision and personal responsibility on the part of the parent.
Those poor children were failed by both their mother and the system.
That charge should be on the momma and the state there is so many kids that should be taken out and adopted out to people that would take them in. But DHR is too busy going on false allegations that’s clearly a state of a deadbeat dead just looking foe anything to take her children away so his sorry tail don’t have to pay child support. The bloods on the states hands for handing that baby to a worthless momma that will get out in 10 to 15 years. Or pull the mental card and get out in 5 I hope they sleep well at night.
I feel so sorry for the man that found the child. I know he will never be able to forget, but find comfort in knowing he did all he could. The child could have walked in front or behind a car or anything. The other point is about the states roll in this. The system needs changes. A LOT of the social workers time is being wasted investigating false alarms. Good parent are turned in all the time because a family member, or neighbor gets mad at them. It wastes their time and bogs down the system. There was a case where a family was turned in, investigated, and cleared of all charges, with an apology for wasting for wasting their time. The children were traumatized because the dope head neighbor got high and turned them in. It was anonymous so nothing can be done to them. People who turn in anonymous reports are usually lying. People who really care about children will stand up and give their name without fear. If you are going to be an advocate for a child you can’t be a coward and fear for own reputation more than the childs safety. By the way the family mentioned before have to bring their kids inside at certain times because they can smell the neighbor smoking mariguana.
I am sorry for a child losing his life, but I am with David Green. The State in part let this kid down and so did the person (can’t say mom moms take care of kids) who was in charge of child. Where is the other parent? Where is the “moms” family and why couldn’t they help and/or see what was going on? I too am just venting. and no my house isn’t perfectly clean.
So sad.
To lose a child because you as the parent were not attentive enough.
Very sad to be the neighbor, Mr. Kruger who found the child in what he thought was merely a pretty thing to look at in his front yard.
I would be ripping that thing out post haste after that and the experience would forever haunt me.
The only reason someone like this has kids is to collect money from the tax payers. They are a meal ticket. Poor kids, they didnt ask for this. The state is in part to blame for her having custody.
This is what society has wanted all along–lazy, self-centered people, dependent on Big Brother, having children for the sake of a bigger check. It’s sad to think of what these 4 poor babies are going through right now. Probably with people they don’t know and afraid of what is going to happen to them now. Apples don’t fall far from the tree, but regardless, we are all individuals and can become self-respecting citizens of the community. I know first hand.
Is it too much to ask that mothers love and take care of their children and present themselves as good role models? This is not a third-world country. Grab a bottle of grease lightning and some rags and get to work. If you have water, you have a trash can!
Well, thank you for letting me vent!
Well, that’s our system for ya…can’t or don’t do anything until something happens….if a woman is abused over and over, can’t do anything til something happens..yeah, till she’s dead…wake up Americas court systems !!!!!!
ALSO
“@David Huie Green: What do you mean by pregnancy reduction?
I mean not getting pregnant in the first place if you can’t or won’t take care of the offspring, of course.
Oh, and not fathering children you won’t be able or willing to care for, of course.”
David for good mothers and fathers
or no children
Maybe she was cleaning & the other kids took baby out, I have a 2 yr. old that has gotten out by me, husband, & older kid believe it or not, they are quick. If she was @ fault then so be it, but if you don’t have babies close together, don’t judge. There’s days when I can’t clean my house, I sometimes have to depend on my teengirls.
I’m wondering where the father is.. or is it fathers?
Lets please stop and say a prayer for the other kids left that has to deal with this situation.
The torment they must be going through right now must be awful, and not understanding what/why this has happened to their little sibling.
Sad, makes me want to take some of these parents and shake them, give them a wake up call.
I have a good friend who has never been blessed with having her own bio child and would give up anything in the world in order to have a child weather it be her own blood child or adopt, but no such luck.
Why do people keep having children when they don’t need them?
Not being judgmental here, but enough is enough!
@David Huie Green: What do you mean by pregnancy reduction?
This brings me to tears. I don’t know these children but I mourn the loss of any child and feel sympathy for the siblings. How tramatic for them, and how sad to be neglected by their mother. I have a child who isn’t but a few months older than the one in this story, my worst fear is that something should happen to my child. I still don’t understand how a parent can allow their children to “parent” themselves, and how the parents can let their children live in unsanitary conditions. My house may not be SPOTLESS but it is CLEAN. I hope the remaining children can find a stable place to call home and get some counseling for the tramatic events they’ve experienced…. and I hope this “woman” who is 31 with 5 children and an unsanitary house will get her act together and clean her house and stop having kids if she isn’t going to provide a proper environment for them.
REGARDING:
“Investigators found “unsanitary living conditions” in the Betmark Road home – - – were only returned to the care of their mother in recent months”
In retrospect, that may not have been wise.
David for safe children
good parents
pregnancy reduction otherwise
I rarely like the idea of families being broken up, but this is one case I think that the state was doing its job poorly if the the mother received custody back and something like this happened. My prayers with the other babies!
OH MY LORD! I have grandchildren just a month younger than this poor child!! Who in their right mind let’s a 14 month old run around outside unsupervised???
If you can’t crap and pee by yourself, if you can’t make/get your own food, if you are not aware of the dangers of the outside world, then you are someone who needs CONSTANT supervision as this poor child needed.
I’m sorry, but I feel no pity towards this mother.
Needless to say the state got that one wrong!! I know they dont like to “break up families” but perhaps if they had in this case,the little boy would still be alive today..