Monessen mother guilty in infant's death

A Westmoreland County jury has convicted a young Monessen single mother of killing her 28-week-old son, who drowned last year after being left unsupervised in a bathtub for about 20 minutes.

Jurors deliberated five hours before returning a verdict Thursday evening in which they found 22-year-old Seairia Henderson guilty of third-degree murder.

That finding could result in Henderson being sentenced to a maximum of 20 to 40 years in prison. She will be formally sentenced in about three months by Westmoreland County Judge John Blahovec.

Henderson sobbed after the verdict was announced. Her parents, who attended all four days of the trial, were in tears and declined comment.

Defense attorney Brian Aston said no decision has been reached about whether to appeal the conviction.

"We're extremely disappointed in the verdict, but we understand it," Aston said.

Henderson was charged with homicide in connection with the Sept. 11 drowning death of her 7-month-old son, Malachi. Police said she left Malachi and her 2-year-old daughter, AhRaeia in an upstairs bathtub filled with water.

Henderson left the children unattended and went outside for 20 minutes where she talked with friends, smoked cigarettes and danced in the street, according to witnesses. When she returned, Malachi was underwater and unresponsive. He died two days later.

The defense asked jurors to convict Henderson of a lesser crime, involuntary manslaughter, which is a killing that results from a reckless or negligent act.

Involuntary manslaughter carries a much less severe penalty, and Henderson, who has been in jail since her arrest, could have received a probationary sentence, according to Assistant District Attorney Barbara Jollie.

The jury also convicted Henderson of four other offenses, two counts each of reckless endangerment and child endangerment.

During the three days of testimony, the defense never disputed the factual elements of the case. It admitted that Henderson left her two children in the bathtub alone for about 20 minutes while she was outside with friends.

Where the case differed was on the interpretation of just what crime she was guilty of committing.

Jollie argued that Henderson's actions on Sept. 11, as well as a four-year pattern of poor parenting, constituted a gross disregard of the law and therefore qualified as third-degree murder.

"She danced in the street while her baby died," Jollie told jurors in her closing argument. "She knew what she did was wrong."

Throughout the trial, the prosecution characterized Henderson as a young, inattentive mother who cared more for herself and socializing with friends than providing a safe environment for her children.

Jurors heard evidence of instances dating to 2004 in which Henderson was accused of mistreating her children or leaving them unattended. The Westmoreland County Children's Bureau intervened with the Henderson family in 2004 and again in 2008.

Two days before Malachi drowned, Henderson's friends said she left her children alone in a bathtub. They testified they found Malachi nearly submerged.

"That was a significant warning. What she did was me-first thinking," Jollie said.

The defense presented its case yesterday through one witness, psychologist Douglas Ramm, who testified that Henderson suffered from low intelligence, suffered from depression as a child and had difficulty learning how to care for children.

He said Henderson has the intelligence level of a 12-year-old.

Aston, in his closing arguments, asked jurors to find Henderson guilty of all lesser charges, but not third-degree murder because her actions did not constitute a conscious and knowing action to kill her son.

"She put him in the tub. She walked away. She killed him," Aston said. "But punish her for the right crime."

Both of Henderson's surviving children, 7-year-old Christian and AhRaeia are living with Henderson's mother.