On Monday, the Latgale District Court sentenced the mother of a two-year-old boy who froze to death in February in the Rezekne region to two years and nine months of imprisonment, the LETA agency was informed by the court.
The woman has been found guilty of causing death by negligence and cruelty towards a minor. For this, she has been sentenced to two years, nine months, and 28 days of imprisonment. Two days of the woman's detention have been counted towards the prison term.
In favor of the victim, recognized as the child's father, the woman will be ordered to pay compensation in the amount of 2900 euros.
On Monday, the court announced a shortened sentence. The participants in the case have ten days to request the preparation of a full decision and to decide on an appeal.
The tragedy occurred on February 1 of this year in the Lendža parish of the Rezekne region. The child's mother, while in a private house with other people, consumed alcohol and failed to provide proper supervision for her minor son. Despite the fact that the boy, aged one year and 11 months, was already actively moving around and needed constant supervision, the mother took no measures to restrict his access to alcohol or to prevent him from leaving the house.
After waking up from a daytime nap, the boy gained access to alcohol due to his mother's negligence and then left the house in a snowstorm without shoes or outer clothing. He remained outside for a long time in a helpless state, experiencing severe stress and hypothermia. Late in the evening, the child was found without signs of life, buried in snow. During the investigation, alcohol was found in the boy's body.
The mother was charged under two articles of the criminal law - part 1 of article 123 for causing death by negligence and part 2 of article 174 for cruel or violent treatment of a minor, which caused him physical or mental suffering and was committed by a person on whom he was dependent.
The first article provides for imprisonment for up to three years, short-term imprisonment, probation supervision, or community service. The second article prescribes imprisonment for up to five years, short-term imprisonment, or probation supervision.
On the day of the tragedy, the police detained the boy's mother and grandmother, born in 1985 and 1964, respectively. The child's father was not in Latvia at that time.
It was previously reported that the boy's disappearance was discovered around 1:30 PM, but the police received information about it only around 3:00 PM and began search operations involving significant resources, including drones and a dog handler with a service dog.
