MS - Mom arrested after 2 of her 3 children drowned in her locked vehicle, Mar 2019

[JerseyGirl]

Jenea Payne, 25, was at a Stop&Shop in Leland, while her three young children, ages 1 to 4, were inside her Nissan Pathfinder.

Payne told investigators that when she exited the store on Saturday, she saw her vehicle was gone and had rolled into Deer Creek.

First responders were only able to rescue one child from the vehicle, and the other two floated away down the creek in the locked SUV.

A rescue dive team found the vehicle with the children still inside hours later.

Investigators believe the 4-year-old put Payne’s keys in the ignition, turned the vehicle on and put it in neutral before it rolled off.

Mississippi mom arrested after 2 of 3 kids drown in locked vehicle while she was shopping, police say

 

[kkdj]

Jenea Payne, 25, was at a Stop&Shop in Leland, while her three young children, ages 1 to 4, were inside her Nissan Pathfinder.

Payne told investigators that when she exited the store on Saturday, she saw her vehicle was gone and had rolled into Deer Creek.

First responders were only able to rescue one child from the vehicle, and the other two floated away down the creek in the locked SUV.

A rescue dive team found the vehicle with the children still inside hours later.

Investigators believe the 4-year-old put Payne’s keys in the ignition, turned the vehicle on and put it in neutral before it rolled off.

Mississippi mom arrested after 2 of 3 kids drown in locked vehicle while she was shopping, police say

How sad....

 

[FL Wannabe]

How heartbreaking!

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

yep, before the "it's her fault for being negligent" crew comes in, I, too, add my compassion here. Very sad for all who know and love this family.

 

[sloane7777]

Ok this poor woman , the only thing I see wrong is she should have taken the keys , she actually took them out or had an extra set the 4 year old found, but I saw the storefront small store all glass front , I cant imagine just having to run real quick pay for gas grab something and having to take 3 kids out of their car seats for half a sec , now Dallas different story TAKE ALL OF THEM ALWAYS but this is very Sad !! I know you should never never leave them but I feel really bad for her in this case, she is sure being punished as it is .

 

[CaliRoses]

Charges dismissed against mother of children who drowned in creek

A preliminary hearing was held Tuesday in Washington County, where Judge Laverne Simpson ruled there was insufficient evidence and dropped the two counts of negligent manslaughter and one count of child neglect against Jenea Monique Payne, court officials said.

.....

Payne and Raelynn's father met earlier this month with the people who rescued their daughter from the creek. The Leland Police Department shared photos of the reunion on their Facebook page.