A 28-year-old Massachusetts mother has been sentenced to four to six years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment following the death of her three-year-old son in April 2024. Jennifer Prudencio left her seriously ill youngest child, Yael, in the unsupervised care of his two older brothers (aged eight and seven) whilst she went out drinking and spent the night at her boyfriend's home, despite receiving distress calls and a video from her eldest son showing the toddler vomiting and in visible distress.

Yael suffered from hemophilia and seizures and was particularly vulnerable in the week before his death, having fallen during a seizure and subsequently vomited blood. When Jennifer returned home at 10am on 7 April, nine hours after leaving, she found her son dead. Toxicology tests revealed undetectable levels of anti-seizure medication in Yael's blood, despite discussions with his doctor the previous week about adjusting his medication. Following her guilty plea in August, Judge Joshua Wall imposed a sentence above state guidelines, citing aggravating factors, and Jennifer must also complete three years of probation, undergo mental health treatment, and take a parenting class if she wishes contact with her surviving children.