MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A Madison County woman has been sentenced to 20 years in an Alabama prison for the death of her 1-year-old son.
Aleisha Danielle Meyer Parker and Bradley Nathan Parker were both charged with reckless murder after a 2018 shooting they both said was an accident, according to investigators.
Both parents were arrested 12 hours after the child died at their home on Tybee Drive in Triana.
At a sentencing hearing on May 25, Madison County Circuit Judge Alison Austin sentenced Aleisha Parker to 20 years in the Julia Tutwiler Prison in Wetumpka.
While Bradley Parker’s charges were dropped in October 2018 after Madison County District Judge Linda Coats said prosecutors didn’t have probable cause to charge him with reckless murder, he was indicted in April 2022 for the Aug. 25 death of his son, Dante.
The judge also downgraded Aleisha Parker’s charge to manslaughter, and court records show she pleaded not guilty to that charge at a trial in February. She was originally set to be sentenced in April, but that hearing was continued to May 25.
Bradley Parker said that he went downstairs that morning and saw his wife holding a gun near the child’s playpen, according to testimony given by Madison County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Jason Payne.
In an attempt to prevent his wife from hurting herself or the toddler, Bradley Parker told investigators that he tried to take the gun away, Payne said. The gun, a Smith and Wesson .38-caliber revolver, went off during the struggle, and Dante was struck by a bullet.
According to Payne’s testimony, the husband told investigators that Aleisha Parker had suffered depression in the past and threatened to hurt herself.
Following the testimony, Judge Coats deemed the case a “horrible accident,” saying that there wasn’t probable cause to believe the husband was culpable or to charge the wife with reckless murder, a Class A felony.
Bradley Parker was released from jail following the judge’s ruling.
Payne testified that forensic evidence pointed to Aleisha Parker as the one who pulled the trigger, killing Dante. He also indicated that the pair had turned against each other, leading to the initial arrests of both.
Investigators testified Aleisha Parker changed her story several times on the day of the shooting, saying she stated that the gun went off because she accidentally fell down the stairs, but later claimed her husband was the one who had the gun.
Aleisha Parker is currently being held in the Madison County Jail, pending transfer to a state prison.
Bradley Nathan Parker, charged with reckless murder, is set to face a jury with a trial scheduled for July 17, 2023.
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