Mother: Father's punishment too steep in boy's death
The punishment for the father of a child who died after being hit by a car is too harsh, the boy's mother told Fox 5 on Monday.
Crystal Bryant said 5-year-old Jashon Bryant had met his father, Joseph Robertson, just one day before he died, according to the report.
Robertson, 28, was already in the Fulton County Jail on Friday when authorities decided to upgrade his charges to involuntary manslaughter, Lt. Stacie Gibbs with the Atlanta Police Department said.
Gibbs told reporters Friday night that Robertson was negligent in leaving his son, Jashon Bryant, unattended.
"It wasn't an accident. The accident happened as a result of negligence," she told reporters outside the Fulton County Jail Friday night. "By leaving his child, the child received serious bodily injury."
Gibbs said Robertson was "very concerned about" the welfare of Bryant. She did not comment further on his demeanor.
"He understood yesterday what the charges were," she said. "He did take responsibility for that."
Police on Thursday charged Robertson with several felonies after he left his son at a playground near Morgan Street and Boulevard around noon to talk to friends across the street, Jones said. Bryant was struck by a vehicle when he ran after his father.
The motorist took Bryant to Atlanta Medical Center, and he was then airlifted to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. The child's mother went to the hospital, but the father was taken to jail, Jones said.
Robertson was booked into the Fulton County Jail, where he was being held on a $10,000 bond.
A funeral is planned for Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Meadows Mortuary, a spokeswoman for the funeral home told the AJC.
--Staff writer Larry Hartstein contributed to this article.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
