Photos: Clayton County women sentenced in daycare death

Metro Atlanta

Photos: The owner of a Clayton County daycare and her daughter were sentenced on May 20, 2014, to jail time and probation for the death of a child in their care in 2011.

The owner of a Jonesboro daycare and her daughter were sentenced today to time in the Clayton County Jail to be followed by probation for leaving two-year-old Jazmin Green in a sweltering daycare van where she died. Here, April McAlister, Jazmin's mother, testifies in Clayton County Superior Court before the sentencing. -- Text by Rhonda Cook, AJC

Marlo Maria Fallings, owner of Marlo’s Magnificent Learning Center, (in black) becomes emotional as she appears in Clayton County Superior Court for sentencing Tuesday, May 20, 2014. Fallings was sentenced to spend 90 days in the Clayton County Jail and then another nine months on probation for the reckless conduct conviction a month ago for the death of Jazmin Green.

Fallings' daughter, Quantabia Shantell Hopkins (above), a teacher at the school, was sentenced to 30 days in the Clayton County Jail and then almost 10 years probation for two counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and contributing to the deprivation of a child, two-year-old Jazmin Green, who died after being left behind in a van, strapped in a car seat almost three years ago.

Clayton Superior Court Judge Matthew Simmons said he was giving Fallings more time in jail because he considered her to be ultimately responsible for putting her daughter and a teenager in charge of taking eight toddlers on an outing and in charge of seeing that all children were taken from the van. - Text by Rhonda Cook, AJC

Fallings and her daughter react after sentencing.

Fallings (left) and Hopkins have been free since their April 2014 convictions on reckless conduct (Fallings) and involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and contributing to the deprivation of a child (Hopkins) related to Jazmin Green's death. A jury on April 19 acquitted both women of murder.

April McAlister, Jazmin Green's mother, listens as Judge Simmons hands down the sentences.

After sentencing, Judge Simmons gave Fallings and Hopkins 10 days more of freedom to afford them time to make arrangements, including finding care for Hopkins’ 2-year-old son. - Text by Rhonda Cook, AJC

Jazmin’s mother was furious about the punishment and that the two women can put off going to jail. “These people got away with murder for killing my damn child,” said April McAlister.

“It wasn’t a key chain you left in the van. It wasn’t a coat. It was a human being," McAlister said outside the courthouse after sentencing. "What the judge did was wrong. The judge gave them time to go home… They get to go home for 10 days to celebrate, to barbecue.”

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The owner of a Jonesboro daycare and her daughter were sentenced today to time in the Clayton County Jail to be followed by probation for leaving two-year-old Jazmin Green in a sweltering daycare van where she died. Here, April McAlister, Jazmin's mother, testifies in Clayton County Superior Court before the sentencing. -- Text by Rhonda Cook, AJC

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