Foster mother found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in death of boy, 4
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff
A foster mother accused of causing the death of Dontel Jeffers was found guilty today of involuntary manslaughter for not immediately seeking medical attention after the 4-year-old was severely beaten.
Corinne N. Stephen, 25, had been charged with second-degree murder but was convicted of the lesser charge after the Suffolk Superior Court jury deliberated for two days. Prosecutors did not present any evidence during the seven-day trial that Stephen directly abused Dontel. Instead, Assistant Suffolk District Attorney David Deakin argued that she should be held responsible for Dontel's death because she refused to seek medical help even though she knew he was in so much pain she gave him massive dose of Tylenol with codeine.
Stephen stood motionless and did not react as the jury read its verdict. She was taken into custody and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 5 by Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle. Her attorney, John F. Palmer, vowed to appeal, saying before the verdict that the judge erred by telling the jury that failing to do something can be constituted as a malicious act.
Dontel's grandmother, Agatha Jeffers, and other family members shook their heads after the verdict and whispered among themselves. They declined to comment, but did not seem happy.
Dontel was healthy when he was entrusted to Stephen’s care on Feb. 24, 2005. Ten days later, she brought his body to Caritas Carney Hospital with a black eye, ruptured intestine, bruised throat, bruised arms, and ligature marks around his wrists and ankles. Doctors at Caritas tried for 40 minutes to revive the child, but were unsuccessful.
Palmer, the defense attorney, argued that investigators failed to search hard enough for the real killer and accused police and prosecutors of not conducting crucial forensic tests on physical evidence that could have identified other people who had contact with Dontel. Palmer told the jury during in his closing argument that Stephen was an unlikely killer because she served in the Army National Guard, had taken college level nursing courses, and drove the boy to the hospital the day he died.
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