After her son's hot car death in 2018, a 21-year-old mother in Montana is now convicted of negligent homicide and was sentenced this week to up to 20 years of imprisonment for the death of her own toddler.
According to the court records, two months after jurors found out that she was the one responsible for the death of her own 2-year-old son, on Monday Ashley Howard also found herself in court, learning her fate.
After checking all of the documents and evidence and hearing the jurors, a judge ruled that Howard will spend the next 20 years of her life inside the Montana State Women's Prison which is located in Billings.
The 21-year-old mother will only 18 years remaining after spending two years of custody already in Glendive, PEOPLE reported.
Howard initially pleaded not guilty to the negligent homicide that she has done to her own son Caleb Hopkins, who spent not less than eight hours inside her car in late June of 2018.
According to a report, the mother left her son in her own car the night of June 25th in 2018 and only retrieve him at 1 p.m. the next afternoon wherein the toddler spent hours inside the vehicle.
Based on the information gathered by Authorities, after putting her own son inside the car, Howard spent the whole night partying with her friends, and the next day was not able to wake up early as she slept off due to a hangover.
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Moreover, the 2-year-old boy spent a total of 14 hours inside her car and eight out of those 14 hours, the sun was blazing.
After discovering what happened to her own, Howard rushed her toddler to a hospital on June 26, and after checking the 2-year-old boy, Doctors determined that the body temperature of Caleb was at 107 degrees, Yahoo! News reported.
According to medical professionals, Heatstroke begins when the body temperature of an individual reaches or exceeds 104 degrees.
Another report states that Howard mentioned to the doctors that she had found Caleb wrapped in a blanket.
After being airlifted going to a hospital in Billings, Caleb died two days later after spending his final hours under life support.
The cause of death by the toddler was hypothermia which is caused by overheating.
On the other hand, prosecutors noted during the sentencing that the 21-year-old mother had never taken responsibility for what happened to her own son Caleb.
Prior to learning her sentence, Howard addressed the court and stated that she struggled to say that she killed her own son because she does not want to be the reason for his loss and she missed him every day, The Billings Gazette reported.
She also added that she knows she will love her son and always miss him.
After her release, Howard will be spending ten years of parole.
Based on the latest numbers, 26 percent of hot car deaths in the United States are the result of children getting into vehicles by themselves and not being able to get out.
To avoid future hot car deaths, parents are advised to watch always for their children as they always need proper guidance and attention.
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