he video displayed Wednesday in Circuit Judge Suzanne Bass’ Jacksonville courtroom showed a 20-month-old boy lying in bed, gurgling for breath between cries and quiet only when his tracheotomy tube was suctioned.
Ja’vion Jones nearly suffocated while wrapped up “almost like a mummy†in a blanket in his parents’ living room Jan. 27, 2012, prosecutors said. Failure by Kareem and Cherale Jones to take him to the hospital for 12 to 15 more hours left him struggling for life and now needing constant care, according to state officials.
His father, 24-year-old Kareem Jawan Jones, already pleaded guilty to child neglect. His mother, 23-year-old Cherale Denise Jones, did the same to aggravated child abuse and child neglect. During Wednesday’s three-hour sentencing hearing, Assistant State Attorney Joel Cooper Jr. told the judge their son is blind, deaf and in constant pain.
“Those injuries are permanent. For all intents and purposes he has no life,†Cooper told the court. “… It was her actions, her hands that wrapped that blanket so tight he couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe.â€
Stressed over the baby and an argument with her mother, she reacted to Ja’vion’s crying that January night by wrapping him up, according to the arrest report.
The tightly wrapped blanket covered his mouth and nose before he was laid facedown, Cooper said. Cherale Jones disputed that in court, saying she “swaddled him†from the chest down.
When he wasn’t breathing later, she did CPR and he “seemed like he was breathing OK,†she testified. When she fed him at 4 a.m., he threw up and had blood in his nose. Since the baby had acid reflux and often had a bloody crust around his nose when he had a cold, she didn’t tell her husband. When she finally told him about 8 a.m., he took the baby to the hospital.
Kareem Jones’ attorney said he reacted quickly when he learned of his baby’s overnight problems and “deserves to be a citizen again.â€
“Ja’vion was deprived of oxygen not at the hands of my client,†Kim Sadler said. “He made a mistake. He should have called 911. You can’t punish him more than he has punished himself.â€
The parents’ parental rights were terminated, state Department of Children and Families spokesman John Harrell said. The child is in a medical foster home and receives ongoing medical services paid for by the state.
Cherale Jones’ sentencing is set for March 27, and her husband the next day, the judge said.
