LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa.– A Lancaster woman will serve at least four years in prison for causing her daughter’s permanent injuries when she left the child alone in bathwater while she was smoking marijuana 11 years ago.
Jaquia Morales, 32, was sentenced to 4-8 years in state prison after being convicted of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child in October.
On November 22, 2008, Morales left her daughter in bathwater, causing the girl’s near-drowning and irreversible brain damage.
About 10 years after the incident, Morales wrote a letter to the girl where she admitted to leaving her in the water so she could “‘stupidly smoke weed’.”
At sentencing, Lancaster County Judge Margaret Miller acknowledged that Morales has mental health needs, but said “there was a choice made here. And that choice was to smoke marijuana while leaving a child in a running bathtub.”
Now, Morales wills serve time.
