New details emerged when a mother from Chelsea, Massachusetts, charged in the death of her 3-year-old son faced a judge Wednesday.
Jennifer Prudencio, 25, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment after her son, Yael Guardado Prudencio, was found unresponsive Sunday inside their Spencer Avenue apartment, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said. She pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $100,000 bail at her arraignment Wednesday.
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Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Audrey Mark said the 3-year-old had been sick in the weeks leading up to his death. He suffered from a seizure disorder, had hemophilia and had been vomiting blood in the days before he died. He had also fallen while having a seizure and suffered a bleeding face wound that wasn't healing properly. Mark said Jennifer Prudencio had twice sought medical care for her son that week.
On Saturday night, Mark said the child vomited again and appeared pale. Despite being aware that something was wrong, the prosecutor said his mother left the 3-year-old in the care of her two other children, ages 7 and 8, and went out to a bar in Revere "where she drank alcohol for a number of hours." Instead of returning home, she slept at her boyfriend's home in Somerville.
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At some point during the night, Mark said the 8-year-old texted his mother expressing concern for his 3-year-old brother's well being. He even attached a video of the child. Prudencio reportedly told her son she would be home soon, but didn't return home until 10 a.m. the next morning, where she found the 3-year-old boy dead.
Agreeing to speak with NBC10 Boston and Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra in Spanish, a woman who said she knows the suspect said she went out with Prudencio the night before, thinking the children had a babysitter. She went to the suspect's home the next morning to grab some belongings, she says, then saw the child dead and called 911.
Mark said Prudencio was interviewed by state police on Sunday, and she indicated that she was aware of the seriousness of her son's condition before leaving him with no adult supervision. She also admitted receiving a text from her 8-year-old son during the night and deciding to stay out all night anyway.
The state Department of Children and Families said Thursday that they have taken emergency custody of Prudenci's surviving children.
Prudencio's defense attorney asked the judge for a lower bail amount of $7,500, calling the incident "a terrible, terrible tragedy" and insisting that his client is "severely distraught." He said she is a lifelong resident with strong ties to the community, and there is no reason to believe she might flee.
But ultimately, based on the seriousness of the case, the judge sided with the prosecution, setting bail at $100,000, with conditions that Prudencio stay away and have no contact with witnesses in the case and have no unsupervised contact with children under 16. She will also be required to wear a GPS monitoring device.
She is due back in court on May 2 for a probable cause hearing.
