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Woman Sentenced To 24 Years In Prison For Toddler Drowning Death
April 15, 2014
An Escambia County woman was sentenced Monday to 24 years in prison in connection with the drowning death of her toddler in a neighbor’s small pond.
Jennifer Lynn Eiland, 32, was convicted last month by an Escambia County jury of negligent manslaughter and three counts of child neglect after her 14-month old, Alana Mae Eiland, was found unresponsive in her neighbor’s landscaping pond in August 2013 in the 10600 block of Betmark Road, just off 10 Mile Road.
The neighbor was alerted to the child by one of the child’s siblings. First responders attempted rescue efforts, but Alana Mae 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.
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 the recent months before the drowning.
Pictured top and bottom: Larry Kruger (bottom photo) discovered the lifeless body of a nieghbor’s 14-month old girl in his landscaping pond in August 2013. File photos by Joe Douglass WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
10 Responses to “Woman Sentenced To 24 Years In Prison For Toddler Drowning Death”
Chris. First of all. I am a divorced, therefore single, mother of three children. You do not turn your back for a minute. She didn’t “go the bathroom” or “doze off”. Come on. Do not make excuses for this woman! The public defender would have defended her if she didn’t already have a history of abusing her children. I do not care what her excuse is. It’s not a good enough excuse for what happened here. NOT THIS TIME! The State is all in favor of the reunification of the children with their mothers. Look where it got them. A little girl is dead and the other are in foster care. It’s obvious dad is unfit or they’d be with HIM.
Who will speak for this woman???? A CHILD had to speak & say my sibling is under the bridge in your pond…these children were just previously returned to her care(bad mistake) and who spoke for the children while this lady lived the way she did?? Being a single mom with no job or help from family should be the reason to do better, love more & take better care of our children, home & personal self so you can hold your head high & say I’m doing the best I can….instead this is what happens and everyone wants sympathy for the wrong person….What about the siblings in this case that not only lost there sister but there mom, there home and I’m sure trust in adults!!!!!!!!
This was a tragic accident not a homicide. Imagine, for a moment, what it’s like to be a single parent, poor with three small children. Imagine doing this with other problems such as mental or physical illness. It takes only a minute or two for a toddler to scoot off heading for the road, roof or pond. Maybe she dozed off for a moment on the couch only to wake up to this nightmare.
Yes she probably wasn’t a great parent. She may even have been a lousy parent. But she did not drown her child – it was an accident. She had her children taken away once. What does that mean? Was it because she spanked her children? Yes – you can get your children taken away for that.
In most civilized Western societies a quarter-century punishment is only meted out for the most heinous premeditated crimes. Instead of helping this woman overcome the grief of losing her child we have chosen to essentially take her own life as well. We have also deprived her other children of their own mother! We have taken a wife from her husband.
She is not a menace to society. She is not a menace to anybody else’s children. Which one of us, who has had children, has not gone to the bathroom for a few minutes, taken a shower, or fallen asleep to find the children having runoff. Fortunately, by God’s grace, it usually works out. He without sin cast the first stone – this could have happened to you and me!
An accident, no matter how gruesome, cannot be remedied by destroying someone else’s life. Who will speak for this woman?
“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 the recent months before the drowning.”
It looks like somebody neglected their job too..
As far as sentencing goes, I’ve seen people who killed with intent get less time.
ok..you are so right Henry..she just made a little boo boo…never mind,her neighbor will always have to live with the horror of finding her child in his pond,,I guess you are not suppose to landscape your own place..I guess I better put a fence around my dog bowl,oh yeah,and my bird bath..lets get her out Henry,,and give her another chance…those stupid 13 month olds..well,, you know they are,,maybe she will get pregnant again,,,maybe this one won`t drown,,maybe a car will run over it,,yea,that high cost of keeping her in prison ain`t right.Henry..get a petition going,,I`m sure you will get a lot of signatures..
Pray for the children she has neglected. They are the true victims of the system not this woman. She got less then she deserves and they have a lifetime to suffer from her hands.
It wasn’t just an act of negligence, Henry. The child DIED. Perhaps, you didn’t read the article. She IS a threat to society if you ask me.
Henry dear Henry…..this wasn’t the mom’s first go round with abuse and negligence. Her children had been previously removed from her care.,and just returned a couple of months before the death.
Obviously, you do not have children. You have to watch them constantly, provide a clean and safe enviroment. Her negligence and worthlessness resulted in the children living in squalour and they lacked parental supervision…..the end result, a dead 14 month old. Money spent for jail….who cares?
Henry. Read the article. The child drowned ,, what was a. 14 month old out side with out her? She basically let the child out and killed it her self,, as for as the pond owner , that’s his property. He is in no way responsible ,, but rest assured I bet it ways on his mind. She is trash and does not deserve the right to ever have her kids back. .thr sentence shoulda been drowning in a moldy green pond
I’m curious how negligence equals 24 years? I can see taking her other kids away if she is that bad a parent, but she likely isn’t a threat to society. She didn’t commit an act of malice and she has to live with the loss of her kid.
I also wonder why part of the blame doesn’t belong to the pond owner? In Escambia County we have laws that pools have to be fenced in for reasons that are very similar to what happened where a kid accidentally drown.
I’m not sure what the cost to society will be in keeping this woman locked up for two decades but I’d guess it works out to between 30 and 50K a year, so between 600,000 and 1,000,000 dollars over 20 years and having her locked up doesn’t make society any safer.
I’m not the expert and don’t know all the in’s and out’s of this case, but I wonder if this is the right sentencing for negligence? It is also somewhat bewildering that this amounts to being a homicide?
I’m not apposed to locking up people who need locked up for punishment too fit the crime or who are a danger to society but in this I’m not sure that justice is served or that society is being protected?