(Left inset) 3-year-old Yael Guardado-Prudencio (WCVB/screengrab), Jennifer Prudencio appears at her arraignment on April 10, 2024 (WBTS/screengrab)
A 25-year-old Massachusetts mother of three allegedly left her sick 3-year-old son home alone with his two older siblings so she could go out drinking on a Saturday night and sleep over at her boyfriend’s house, only to return home the morning after and find the toddler dead. Worse yet, she ignored the overnight desperation texts her 8-year-old son sent about his brother, prosecutors allege.
Jennifer Prudencio appeared in court on Wednesday to face involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges following the weekend death of Yael Guardado-Prudencio, her 3-year-old son she knew was ill.
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden had already called the case a “tragedy beyond words” in his first statement on the case, but prosecutors under his supervision shed more light on the allegations in court.
Prudencio is accused of leaving Guardado-Prudencio at their Chelsea apartment with only his 8-year-old and 7-year-old siblings to watch him as she enjoyed a booze-filled night out at a bar in Revere — even though she knew the youngest child was sick.
“Generally, the child suffered from a seizure disorder and hemophilia and had been vomiting blood in the days prior to his death,” Assistant DA Audrey Mark revealed in court, local ABC affiliate WCVB reported. “He had also fallen while having a seizure and had a bleeding wound to his face, which was not properly healing. The defendant had brought the child to seek medical care on two occasions over that week.”
Claiming that Prudencio “drank alcohol for a number of hours” at the bar and decided to stay at her boyfriend’s place in Somerville, rather than going home to her children, Mark said that the defendant was unmoved by the texts her worried 8-year-old son sent, texts that included a video of the dying victim’s condition, local NBC affiliate WBTS reported.
She allegedly promised the boy she’d be back soon but stayed the night at her boyfriend’s anyway. By 10 a.m. on Sunday, when Prudencio finally went home, Yael Guardado-Prudencio was already dead, prosecutors reportedly said.
After Prudencio was hauled into court, she did appear to be “distraught” at times, as her lawyer reportedly described her.
Jennifer Prudencio pictured in court.(WBTS/screengrab)
The defense was unsuccessful in its efforts, however, for a low bail, as the judge set bail at $100,000, more than 10 times the amount requested by Prudencio’s attorney.
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