The Columbus Dispatch and our previous post
A Knox County man will spend no time in prison for the death of his 3-year-old son, who shot himself with a .45-caliber handgun that his father had tucked beneath a couch in the family’s home.I suppose that's about the perfect solution. I usually feel that prison time is unnecessary when someone's negligence causes the loss of a child. That's got to be the worst punishment in the world.
Joshua Heagren, 25, was sentenced yesterday by Licking County Common Pleas Court Judge David Branstool after being convicted on Feb. 5 of child-endangering and negligent homicide in the death of his son, Lucas.
Heagren, who faced a maximum of six months in jail on the misdemeanor homicide count and three years for child-endangering, received a suspended 24-month prison sentence and was placed on probation for two years.
Branstool also ordered Heagren to pay a $500 fine, perform 50 hours of community service, submit to alcohol- and drug-use monitoring and maintain full-time employment. The judge also forbade him from possessing guns.
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