Witness in Complaint: Danbury Toddler's Parents 'Negligent'
Posted at: 09/24/2012 8:47 PM
| Updated at: 09/24/2012 10:11 PM
By: Alan Hoglund
ahoglund@wdio.com
A Burnett Co., Wisconsin couple faces charges after their three-year-old daughter, Reena, drowned in a canal just feet from their Danbury home in the middle of August. A criminal complaint says synthetic drugs had been used by the girl's father just minutes before she disappeared.
Jenna Elizabeth Wilson, 33, and Thomas Jay Williams, 42, are each charged with one count of Child Neglect Resulting in Death, which is a felony.
According to the criminal complaint, a woman who knew the family says Danish and Williams "don't pay too close attention to their child."
The woman in the complaint goes on to say they [Danish and Williams] are negligent parents, that Reena is dirty and neglected, and that it was not uncommon for Reena to wander off.
Over the phone, Burnett County District Attorney William Norine told Eyewitness News "we also allege on the date of the disappearance she had actually wandered away barefoot by herself a half a mile from the residents and did so twice."
A witness in the complaint says she found Reena a half-mile away from the Williams-Danish premises and brought her home, but "Williams did not seem concerned."
In the complaint, another witness told the Burnett County Sheriff's Department, "he and Williams had been smoking synthetic marijuana minutes before Reena disappeared."
Norine described what authorities found inside the home. "As the complaint alleges, the paraphernalia was virtually located where child artifacts were. You know, for instance, sippy cups and that sort of thing."
Danish and Williams are expected to make their initial court appearances on Wednesday afternoon.
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