CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A mother is asking police to drop the murder charges against her daughter, who is accused of causing the death of her 3-year-old son.
Police say Chrysma White fell asleep, allowing the child to wander into a hot car, where he became entrapped and died.
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White’s mother told Channel 2’s Tom Jones her daughter is an excellent mother and should not face a murder charge.
“And anybody could tell you how much she loved them kids. Everybody could tell you,” Shelia Jennings said.
Jennings says her 37-year-old daughter really adored her 3-year-old son, Josiah.
“She loved Jo. And Jo loved his mother,” she said.
Jennings was near tears when she learned police arrested her daughter and charged her with murdering Josiah. She says she talked to White while she is locked up.
“She’s not doing good. I keep telling her just pray. Keep praying. God got you,” she said.
“You have been charged with murder” - that’s what Clayton County Magistrate Court Judge Betrice Scott said to White during her first appearance hearing.
Judge Scott read from court documents and explained to White how police say she caused her son’s death last August on a hot summer day.
“Through negligence and falling asleep, caused the victim to leave the residence, enter your vehicle and become entrapped inside,” she explained.
Josiah died in that hot car at White’s home on Riverdale Road.
Jennings says it was an accident, not murder.
Police say the murder and child cruelty charges come after a thorough and diligent investigation
Jennings says her daughter is so bothered by what happened, Mother’s Day wasn’t the same.
“She didn’t want to celebrate because Jo not here,” she said.
Jennings wants police and the District Attorney’s office to know this is not a murder case.
“You need to free my daughter. My daughter is a good mother and a good person,” she said.
Clayton County police say what White did was neglectful, but her mother says it wasn’t intentional.
White is being held without bond. Judge Scott said, because of the charges, she couldn’t set one.
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