Mom sentenced to 3 years of probation in son's death

A Macomb County mother has been sentenced to three years probation in the death of her 2-year old son, who died of heatstroke after being left in a vehicle all day outside her home .

Audrionna Rhoades' attorney said Rhoades thinks about her son, James Nelson, every day.

She experiences heartache and depression over his death more than two years ago at her Shelby Township mobile home, said attorney Leon Weiss.

Rhoades, 23, now can try to have "some semblance of a life, some semblance of peace," Weiss said after a Macomb County Circuit Court judge sentenced her today. The sentencing includes the possibility of a remaining 7 1/2 months of jail deferred if Rhoades follows her probation guidelines.

Rhoades thanked the courts and attorneys but said nothing more during or after her sentencing.

She pleaded no contest earlier this year to a lesser child abuse charge - leaving a child in a vehicle resulting in death, which is a 15-year felony. The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld Judge Jennifer Faunce's earlier decision to dismiss a second-degree murder charge against Rhoades.

Authorities accused Rhoades of buckling her son in to the minivan, then driving another car to work in September 2013. Her roommate found the boy in the van about nine hours later, they said.

During the course of the case, Faunce reduced Rhoades' bond and dismissed the second-degree murder charge saying previously - after reviewing psychological and forensic reports - that she thought the facts looked more to negligence versus intentional.

During sentencing, Faunce said she was taking into consideration the seven-and-a-half months Rhoades spent in jail after she was arrested and that she appears to have done very well pending sentencing.

"Certainly, the loss of a child for most everyone, especially under such horrible circumstances, is punishment," Faunce said. "I do believe based on what I've read and what I've seen and what your attorney has told me, that you've considered it punishment as well."

If Rhoades is successful, those months of jail time could be suspended. If not, Rhoades could be sentenced to 25 months or more of time, Faunce said. Rhoades also was ordered to have no alcohol or drugs and random testing; is to continue mental health treatment, and is to perform 10 days of community service, among other orders.

Weiss said he believed Faunce "was extremely fair, extremely compassionate" in her sentence. In court, he said Rhoades was living "any parents' worse nightmare" and that she was in counseling. He urged Faunce not to give Rhoades more jail time, saying she has a "life sentence" with the loss of a child.

Weiss said the boy's father did not ask for jail time and agreed Rhoades - who works full-time as a restaurant hostess and is taking online classes toward her bachelor's degree - was a "really good mom."

"This was a tragic accident," Weiss said. "The judge saw it for what it was."

Contact Christina Hall: chall99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.