Mother Pleads No Contest in Sons’ Deaths

A 40-year-old Simi Valley mother pleaded no contest Thursday to felony child endangerment for leaving her two young sons inside a sweltering minivan where they died last summer.

Marlene Heath, who told police she drank a bottle of wine and fell asleep in her bed while the children were outside, entered the plea during a brief appearance in Ventura County Superior Court.

Heath, who admitted causing great bodily injury and death to her sons when asked a series of questions by the prosecutor, faces up to 12 years in state prison.

But she is also eligible for probation, which defense attorney Louis “Chuck” Samonsky said he will request at a Jan. 8 sentencing hearing.

“I don’t know how you can argue that you’re going to deter anyone in the public, or Marlene Heath, if you accept the premise that there is nothing worse that is going to happen to her,” Samonsky said.

“These children were the light of her life,” he said, “and the light of her husband’s life. And they are gone.”

Three-year-old Jake and his 13-month-old brother, Dylan, died of hyperthermia Aug. 4 as their mother slept inside their Ralston Avenue home.

The boys were strapped in child-safety seats for four hours behind the rolled-up, tinted windows of the family’s Dodge minivan, which, police said, was parked in the sun. Temperatures were nearly in the 90s that day.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Heath told police that she consumed one or two bottles of wine the night before and another bottle the morning of Aug. 4.

Heath, a Kinko’s employee, left for a company picnic in Ventura about 1 p.m. but turned back. She estimated that she pulled into her driveway about 2 p.m.

According to the affidavit, she left the boys in the van and went in the house to use the bathroom. She told investigators she remembers unlocking the door, but nothing after that.

When she awoke about 6:30 p.m., she panicked and found the children dead in their seats, according to the affidavit. She tried to revive them, then called her husband at work. According to court records, one of his co-workers called 911.

A blood test taken six hours after her last drink registered a 0.17% blood-alcohol level, more than twice the legal limit for driving.

Heath was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors later charged her with child endangerment resulting in death and related allegations, which exposed her to a longer prison sentence.

Speaking after Thursday’s hearing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Aramesh Ruggles said Heath’s change in plea came as somewhat of a surprise. Heath had previously pleaded not guilty.

Ruggles said prosecutors offered Heath no deals and will oppose any request for probation.

“The people will be arguing for a prison sentence,” she said.

But Samonsky said his client, who has no criminal record, is undergoing treatment for alcoholism and does not pose a danger to the community. He hopes the sentencing judge will take those factors into consideration.

Heath remains free on $50,000 bail.