Columbus mom sentenced for son’s drowning

COLUMBUS — A Columbus mother has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2020 drowning of her 5-year-old son, whom she left unat- tended at home for hours with his 3-year-old brother.

While their mother was gone, the boys had walked from their East Side home to a pool less than a block away, where Kyle Allen drowned.

Kyle’s mother, 27-year-old Tamisha Jones, accepted a plea agreement Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in exchange for county prosecutors recom- mending a six-year prison sentence.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Andy Miller agreed and immediately sen- tenced Jones to six years. Involuntary manslaughter can carry an indefinite prison term of up to 11 to 16½ years.

Jones has been in prison for more than a year for a sep- arate felonious assault con- viction. Jones also pleaded Monday to a 2021 assault.

Miller sentenced her in that case to one year in prison to be served at the same time as her six-year involuntary manslaughter sentence.

Jones’ defense attorney, Eric Brehm, told The Dispatch that the plea agreement was fair.

“Regardless of the outcome, there are no winners in this case because a child is dead. Despite the sentence, Ms. Jones will deal with guilt and regret the rest of her life,” Brehm said.

Around 7:15 p.m. July 3, 2020, Columbus police responded to a report of a child who drowned. Officers found that bystanders had pulled Kyle out of the pool and were administering first aid.

Kyle was taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where he died a week later.

According to Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Meyer, cellphone records showed Jones left the boys alone at the apartment at around 3:40 p.m. after leaving them alone earlier in the day from around 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Clark County; CHASE, Robert Clark County; THOMAS, Anita Clark County; WILLIAMS, David