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Chelsea mother allegedly went to bar, left sick 3-year-old at home before finding him dead
The child was reportedly experiencing seizures and vomiting blood in the days leading up to his death on Sunday.
A Chelsea woman has been charged in connection with the death of her 3-year-old son after allegedly ignoring his medical issues in the days leading up to his death, officials announced Wednesday.
Jennifer Prudencio, 25, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment of a child, the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement.
The child, Yael Guardado-Prudencio, was found unresponsive in the family’s home at 242 Spencer Ave. in Chelsea Sunday morning. Authorities announced Tuesday that Prudencio would be charged in the death after investigating the incident.
Prudencio was allegedly aware that her son was sick in the week leading up to his death, according to the D.A.’s statement. The 3-year-old suffered from a seizure disorder and hemophilia and had been vomiting blood in the days before his death, authorities said.
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“He had also fallen while having a seizure and had a bleeding wound to his face, which was not properly healing,” officials said in the statement. “The defendant had brought the child to seek medical care on two occasions over that week.”
On Saturday evening, the child reportedly vomited again and “appeared pale,” according to the statement. Despite this, Prudencio allegedly left the 3-year-old in the care of her two other children — who are 7 and 8 years old — and went out to a bar in Revere.
Prudencio allegedly “drank alcohol for a number of hours,” then stayed the night at her boyfriend’s house in Somerville.
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That night, the victim’s 8-year-old brother reportedly sent a text to Prudencio “expressing concern for the wellbeing of his brother and attaching a video of the alleged victim.” Prudencio told her son she would be home soon, prosecutors said.
On Sunday, Prudencio allegedly returned home at 10 a.m. to find her 3-year-old son deceased.
“The death of someone so young is a tragedy beyond words. My heart goes out to all who knew and loved this young boy, and to the police and emergency services personnel who responded to the scene that sad morning,” Hayden said in a statement Tuesday.
The judge ordered Prudecio held on $100,000 bail and to have no unsupervised contact with children under 16, to have a GPS tracking upon release, to surrender her passport, and to not leave the state.
Her probable cause hearing is scheduled for May 2.
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