BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - A Gardendale couple were placed on probation after pleading guilty today to a misdemeanor charge of criminally negligent homicide in the 2010 death of their 16-month-old son.
Jeffery and Rebecca Stockton pleaded guilty during a hearing before Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Teresa Pulliam.
The couple had been indicted for manslaughter after a medical examiner determined that their 16-month-old son Justin Trent Stockton, who had Down syndrome, died April 22, 2010 of severe malnutrition.
John Lentine, one of the attorneys for the couple, said that the Stocktons entered best interest pleas without any acknowledgment of guilt to the lesser misdemeanor offense of criminally negligent homicide with unsupervised probation and no jail time. "I'm hopeful that the Stocktons can move forward from the tragic loss of their son and now try to resume their lives with all their children.," he said.
The pleas and sentence were part of a negotiate plea deal agreement with prosecutors.
"They loved their son very much, just as much as they love all their other children," Lentine said.
Eight children were removed from the couple's Gardendale home in June 2010 after the death was ruled a homicide.
According to court documents and coroner reports the Stockton family does not seek medical treatment from doctors. Also a former member of the family alleged in court documents that the Stockton family lived on a compound in a "cult-like environment" with other siblings of Jeffery Stockton.
Updated at 2:38 p.m. to correct spelling of Down syndrome and add comment from the Stocktons' attorney John Lentine