Texas Mother Sentenced In Death Of Her Toddler Son

MARSHALL, TX —A 35-year-old East Texas woman has been sentenced to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to a second-degree manslaughter charge stemming from the death of her toddler son. April Lynn Gibbons also pleaded guilty to endangering a child, specifically her son's twin brother, TV station KLTV reported.

In February 2017, Gibbons had given her now dead son methadone, a narcotic often used to treat opioid addiction, the Longview News Journal reported. It was also determined that Gibbons had given both boys a full dose of Melatonin, Dimetapp, and Ibuprofen in order for them to go to sleep sometime that same month, KLTV reported.

Gibbons' parents, 57-year-old Carla Darlene Evans and Gary Mitchell Evans, 60, were indicted on two counts of abandoning or endangering a child with criminal negligence in July 2017. Both are scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Oct. 9.

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Photo via Harrison County Jail