Palisade mom of two toddlers who died guilty on child abuse charge
By NANCY LOFHOLM | The Denver Post / PUBLISHED: January 31, 2014 at 5:09 am | UPDATED: June 7, 2016 at 4:01 pm
GRAND JUNCTION — A 12-person jury found Heather Jensen guilty of child abuse that led to the hyperthermia deaths of her two young sons in 2012, but the same jury found her not guilty of criminally negligent homicide.
The split verdict came after a day and a half of deliberations following an emotional four days of testimony about the events surrounding the deaths of William Jensen, 2, and Tyler Jensen, 4. The boys died of overheating while strapped and locked in their mother’s SUV on a cold evening in late November.
Jensen had left her sons in her vehicle with the heater on while she had sex and smoked marijuana with a man in a nearby vehicle.
The full courtroom was silent when the verdict was read. But Jensen, 25, sobbed loudly in the arms of her defense attorney once the eight women and four men on the jury left the room.
Jensen’s mother and other family members, who had been spectators at the nine-day trial, also cried and angrily repeated over and over, “We will be back.”
Family members of Jensen left the courtroom hand in hand and would make no other comments on the verdict.
Robert Mathena, the step-grandfather of the deceased boys, said he felt justice had been served. “Thank God it’s over,” he said outside the courtroom.
The guilty verdict on the two felony counts of child abuse resulting in death means Jensen could face from four to 32 years in prison for each count, depending on whether the judge determines there were aggravating circumstances.
The jury also found Jensen guilty of one count of false reporting to authorities because she didn’t tell investigators the truth about the fact that the boys had been in their car seats for as long as 90 minutes before she discovered the younger boy was not breathing and his older brother was struggling to breathe.
The split verdict came after a day and a half of deliberations following an emotional four days of testimony about the events surrounding the deaths of William Jensen, 2, and Tyler Jensen, 4. The boys died of overheating while strapped and locked in their mother’s SUV on a cold evening in late November.
Jensen had left her sons in her vehicle with the heater on while she had sex and smoked marijuana with a man in a nearby vehicle.
The full courtroom was silent when the verdict was read. But Jensen, 25, sobbed loudly in the arms of her defense attorney once the eight women and four men on the jury left the room.
Jensen’s mother and other family members, who had been spectators at the nine-day trial, also cried and angrily repeated over and over, “We will be back.”
Family members of Jensen left the courtroom hand in hand and would make no other comments on the verdict.
Robert Mathena, the step-grandfather of the deceased boys, said he felt justice had been served. “Thank God it’s over,” he said outside the courtroom.
The guilty verdict on the two felony counts of child abuse resulting in death means Jensen could face from four to 32 years in prison for each count, depending on whether the judge determines there were aggravating circumstances.
The jury also found Jensen guilty of one count of false reporting to authorities because she didn’t tell investigators the truth about the fact that the boys had been in their car seats for as long as 90 minutes before she discovered the younger boy was not breathing and his older brother was struggling to breathe.