1-Year Jail Term Ordered for Simi Mother in 2 Sons' Heat Deaths

Courts: The sentence is part of five years' probation for Marlene Heath, 40. The boys died in a sweltering van in the family's driveway last summer while she slept.

By TIMOTHY HUGHES, TIMES STAFF WRITER
A Simi Valley mother who left her two young sons to die in a sweltering minivan last summer while she lay asleep after drinking a bottle of wine was ordered Thursday to serve a year in county jail as part of a five-year sentence.

The ruling by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Clark came a week after he spared Marlene Heath, 40, a lengthy state prison term following her no contest plea last fall in the Aug. 4 deaths of her sons, Jake, 3, and Dylan, 13 months.

Heath told police that after drinking the wine that morning, she drove toward Ventura for a company picnic but turned back. She then fell asleep in her bedroom and found the children strapped in their car seats four hours later, dead. Clark, who last week sentenced Heath to probation, went with a probation department recommendation that Heath serve jail time and ordered the former Kinko's employee to begin her incarceration in Ventura County Jail on March 14.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Aramesh, who prosecuted the case, said that although she wanted state prison time for Heath, she was satisfied with Clark's sentence.

"What she did was inexcusable," Aramesh said. "The message is that you will serve time if you neglect your children."

Because she could receive credit for good behavior while in jail, Heath could be released in less than a year, prosecutors said. She would then be on probation for the remainder of her 60-month sentence.

Other terms of Heath's probation include performing 500 hours of community service, attending 52 child abuse education classes and paying $1,100 in investigation fees to the county probation department.

Heath's attorney, Louis Samonsky, said he was not surprised by the jail sentence considering the level of public surprise that his client was not sent to state prison.

"Like any judge, he tries to reflect the community values," Samonsky said. "There was a backlash, so I figured there would be some jail time, but she was a good mother by all accounts."

Unlike last week, when Heath and her husband, Phillip, attended the hearing surrounded by dozens of family members and friends, only a few relatives attended Thursday's proceedings.

Last week, when reacting to Clark's decision to spare his wife a prison sentence of up to 12 years for felony child endangerment, Phillip Heath had said his sons "are up in heaven right now jumping up and down."

After Clark's ruling Thursday, he brushed aside reporters' questions as he led his wife across a courthouse lawn to meet with probation officials at the county jail.

During the hearing, Aramesh and Samonsky repeated to the judge the themes they introduced last week.

Aramesh said even though Heath knew she had a serious drinking problem last summer, she chose to put her children at risk, first when she drove drunk and then when she left them in the car with outdoor temperatures of nearly 90 degrees.

Samonsky said Heath has made substantial progress since she moved full-time into a Ventura alcohol and drug treatment facility.