Texas mother pleads guilty to the murder and abandonment of disabled, bedridden daughter
10/10/2022 12:39 pm PDT
BAY CITY, Texas (TCD) -- A mother was recently sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to the 2020 murder and abandonment of her 7-year-old disabled, bedridden child.
According to the original news release from the Bay City Police Department, on Jan. 31, 2020, at approximately 2:36 p.m., officers responded to an apartment on the 2200 block of Bordeaux to perform a welfare check. At the scene, police said officers found the 7-year-old victim deceased inside the home.
Police said they found a 5-year-old and 3-month-old also living in the home. The other children were reportedly removed from the residence.
The mother, Lauren Dean, who was 26 years old at the time, was arrested and charged with abandon endanger a child — imminent danger bodily injury, according to police. She was reportedly booked into Matagorda County Jail.
On Wednesday, Oct. 5, Dean pleaded guilty to the murder of her child, Jordynn Barrera, who was non-communicative and suffered from Down syndrome and cerebral palsy, KTRK-TV reports. Jordynn was reportedly on a feeding tube as well.
According to KHOU-TV, in addition to murder, Dean also pleaded guilty to abandoning a child after leaving her three children home alone on Jan. 30, 2020, to go to a bar. She was given 20 years in prison for that charge, which will run concurrently with her life sentence.
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