FOSTER MOM GETS JAIL TIME WOMAN ASKS FORGIVENESS FOR 2 DEATHS.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer LANCASTER - After tearfully tear·ful adj. 1. Filled with or accompanied by tears: tearful eyes; a tearful farewell. 2. So piteous as to excite tears: a tearful melodrama. begging for forgiveness from the mother of two boys she left in her sweltering swel·ter·ing adj. 1. Oppressively hot and humid; sultry. 2. Suffering from oppressive heat. swel SUV, Lancaster foster mother Leslie Smoot was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail for the boys' deaths. The mother of Nehemaiha Prince-Smith, 3, and Dakota Prince-Smith, 5, watched impassively im·pas·sive adj. 1. Devoid of or not subject to emotion. 2. Revealing no emotion; expressionless. 3. Archaic Incapable of physical sensation. 4. Motionless; still. as Smoot sobbed in the witness box, clutching a white lace handkerchief handkerchief. In classical Greece pieces of fine perfumed cotton, known as mouth or perspiration cloths, were often used by the wealthy. From the 1st cent. B.C. to her face. ``I am sorry for what I did. I am sorry that my mind failed and I left your babies. Please in the name of Jesus find it in your heart to forgive me,'' Smoot said as the boys' mother Twila Prince and father David Smith sat impassively in the court audience. Smoot pleaded no contest Feb. 5 to involuntary manslaughter The act of unlawfully killing another human being unintentionally. Most unintentional killings are not murder but involuntary manslaughter. The absence of the element of intent is the key distinguishing factor between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. in the deaths of the boys. The boys died after being left in her Cadillac Escalade The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury sport utility vehicle sold by the General Motors luxury brand, Cadillac. It was the division's first major entry into the popular SUV market. for five hours in near 100-degree heat July 8 outside her Lancaster child care center, A Child's Place. Smoot's plea avoided a trial on murder charges, which carried a possible sentence of life in prison. The prosecutor asked for incarceration Confinement in a jail or prison; imprisonment. Police officers and other law enforcement officers are authorized by federal, state, and local lawmakers to arrest and confine persons suspected of crimes. The judicial system is authorized to confine persons convicted of crimes. , but did not specify an amount. In sending Smoot to jail for six months, Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Superior Court Judge Lisa Chung also ordered her not to take do foster care or day-care work for the five years she is on probation. She was also ordered to perform 2,000 hours of community service and get counseling. ``You were taking on too much and this led to tragic consequences,'' the judge told Smoot. ``I don't want you to be a position where that happens again.'' The boys' parents did not speak in court or to reporters afterward. Their attorney, Gregg Goldfarb, said Prince was too emotionally distraught to speak. Under questioning by her attorney, Smoot said she forgot to take the boys out of the sport utility vehicle when she arrived at the day-care center day-care center: see day nursery. and did not realize they were still in the vehicle until she went to leave for the day. Smoot said she opened the rear door to put in a bag of clothes and saw the two motionless boys, one lying behind the driver's seat driv·er's seat n. A position of control or authority. and the other sitting up behind the passenger seat. ``I picked up Dakota. I cried out to the Lord: Lord, why didn't you tell me the babies were in my car?'' Smoot said in a loud voice. She said she pulled the two boys out. ``I said pray, help me. I know what God can do. My son was 17 and he got shot in the head. I know what God can do,'' Smoot said. As Smoot talked, people in the packed courtroom began sobbing, and a bailiff bailiff Officer of some U.S. courts whose duties include keeping order in the courtroom and guarding prisoners or jurors in deliberation. In medieval Europe, it was a title of some dignity and power, denoting a manorial superintendent or royal agent who collected fines and handed out tissues to them. ``I thought I had taken them out. It's a horrible thing to see those babies. I didn't know I had left them in that car,'' Smoot said. ``To this day, I still don't have an answer why this happened. I do not know how it happened, other than my mind failed.'' A former bus driver of handicapped children who has been a foster mother for 18 years, Smoot said she loved the boys and treated them as if they were her own children. She said she has taken in 55 foster children, some of whom she adopted or became legal guardian of. ``I just love children. My calling is children. I don't do "I Don't Do" was the debut single by glamour model Michelle Marsh, released on 6 November 2006. The single reached 27 in the UK in its first week, selling only 9,000 copies and over 16,000 copies as of January 2007. The single spend a total of four weeks in the Top 75. it for the money. I just enjoy taking care of other people's children,'' said Smoot. On the morning she left the boys in the SUV, Smoot said she had been dealing with health problems and not sleeping well, and her mind was occupied with taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service and not having enough money to pay staff. She recently filed for bankruptcy, she said. Smoot said she hurriedly locked the SUV that morning and went inside the center because she was worried that no children were playing outside as usual. She said she then grabbed a box of corn dogs corn dog n. A frankfurter that is encased in corn bread batter before being baked or fried, usually served on a stick. and got out of the vehicle. ``I pushed the button, locked the car and went in,'' She said. Smoot was cross-examined by Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef, who asked her how much she is paid for foster care, if she was upset that the boys' mother had lodged complaints about her care for them and about a temper-tantrum Nehemaiha threw that morning because he could not wear the same Power Rangers This article lists fictional characters from the Power Rangers universe who have served as Power Rangers. Unlike the List of Power Rangers characters, which lists serving Power Rangers alphabetically alongside other characters from the same fictional universe, this article lists only T-shirt as his older brother. Smoot said she was not upset by the mothers' complaints. Trinity Foster Care social worker Kittie Armstrong, whose agency arranged for Smoot to care for the boys, said Smoot was kind and patient with them, and they responded to her attention. When Smoot took the boys, they were not toilet-trained, they grunted and pointed instead of talking much of the time, and kicked, hit, and threw things, Armstrong said. ``The last week of seeing them, they called her mom. They followed her around. They did what she asked without fighting back.'' Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Leslie Smoot cries while she tells about discovering he two foster children she earlier had left in her sport utility vehicle. (2 -- color) Twila Prince and David Smith, the parents of the two children who died in the SUV, listen to testimony. (3) Leslie Smoot looks at a document shown her by Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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