Mother sentenced to four years in prison in drowning of two children

The mother of two toddlers who drowned in a backyard swimming pool in La Mesa was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of child endangerment.

Tassie Behrens, 28, said she woke up at 9:45 a.m. on May 13, 2013, and found her children in the pool, floating and unresponsive. Both children were taken to hospitals.

Behrens was under the influence of methamphetamine and her older child may have tried unsuccessfully to awake her up when he was unable to find his sister, according to court documents. The boy’s clothes were found near the edge of the pool, suggesting that he tried to save his sister, prosecutors said.

One-year-old Harley Bradford was pronounced dead at Sharp Grossmont Hospital. Two-year-old Jason Bradford was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, where he died later that night.

Investigators said Behrens initially told them that the incident occurred at a community swimming pool in a nearby mobile home park. She later admitted she had lied and that the incident occurred at a friend’s home where she was staying, investigators said.

Two of the three bedrooms in the home had been converted to a marijuana growing operation, according to court documents.

Behrens explained that she did not want to get her friend in trouble because the pool lacked a fence, according to sheriff’s Lt. Glenn Giannantonio.

Later, the resident of the home, Larry Dangelo, 45, was arrested on suspicion of running a marijuana cultivation operation at the home and child endangerment. He pleaded guilty to manufacturing hash oil and, under a plea bargain, agreed to a five-year prison sentence.

The children’s father was in prison when the deaths occurred, officials said.

Behrens was sentenced by El Cajon Superior Court Judge Laura Halgren.