JESSE and WYATT BAGLEY - 7 and 4 yo (2009) Texas County MO

LICKING, Mo.--The Texas county prosecutor will ask a citizen's jury on
March 12th whether they believe the deaths of two young boys were
accidental, or a homicide. The coroner's inquest could lead to charges
against their mother and grandparents.
7-year old Jesse and 4-year old Wyatt Bagley, of Licking, drowned
after wandering into the Big Piney river behind their house last
August. At the time, their mother and grandparents were supposed to be
watching them. They have never been charged in the deaths.
Now, prosecutor Mike Anderson wants a second opinion from a panel of six jurors.
The
group selected by the sheriff will take a look at all the evidence,
then make a recommendation to the prosecutor. He will then decide what,
if any, charges to file. It could range from negligent child abuse to
homicide.
"I'll have to wait and see before I make my decision," said Texas county prosecutor Mike Anderson.
Jennifer Bagley says her three-year-old daughter alerted her that her sons were missing.
"When she asked me where they were I couldn't find them and called 911 and everyone knows the outcome," said Bagley.
The daughter is now in state custody.
A
coroner's inquest is considered a rare process. Anderson says this is
only the second request in his eight years in Texas county.

A coroner's jury recommends felony charges be filed in the death of two
Texas County boys.

The bodies of 4-year-old Wyatt and 7-year-old
Jesse Bagley were found in the Big Piney River in August.

A
coroner's inquest on Friday determined whether their deaths were an
accident or a crime. This is not a verdict of guilt or innocence.

The
Texas County Prosecutor Mike Anderson will decide soon whether to file
charges which could range between manslaughter or child endangerment.
He heard testimony from six people who are convinced the Bagley boys
didn't die by accident, but rather criminal negligence by their mother.


Here's what led up to that decision.

"There's no question
that Jennifer isn't a good mother or that they were not being supervised
correctly on that day," explains Anderson.

But Anderson turned
to three men and six woman on Friday to help him decide whether Jennifer
Bagley contributed to the drowning of her two boys. Their ruling in
this coroner's inquest helps him determine whether to file charges.

"Based
on the information, the evidence I had, we felt it was a good idea to
take it to the citizens of the county and let them look at the evidence
and help us make that decision," says Anderson.

Friday's
testimony revolved around Bagley's parenting, her ability to supervise
her three children and her emotional state when Wyatt and Jesse went
missing.

"She was certainly did not show a lot of concern,
certainly not something a mother should show if she has two children
missing," testified Texas County Sheriff Carl Watson.

A Texas
County deputy testified that Bagley told him the boys couldn't swim.

He
said, "She stated they would go to river, but weren't to go
unsupervised."

In more testimony by a Missouri Highway Patrol
trooper, Bagley was seated in an out-kitchen working on beads, and had
trouble clearly seeing her children playing in the backyard and near the
river. Her home is about sixty yards from the water.

"She told
me boys were missing about an hour before she went looking for them,"
testified Trooper Warren Wiedemann.

The boys' bodies were found
the next morning. The coroner's jury took about an hour to reach a
verdict.

"We do find Jennifer Bagley criminally negligent," read
Texas County Coroner Thomas Whittaker.

"I will take it the jury's
recommendation back to my office and make my decision," says Anderson.

A
decision he says he'll make within the next week.

The Department
of Social Services has an extensive file on the Bagley family dating
back to 2005, which KOLR/KSFX has obtained. The first call was on the
hotline alleging that Jennifer Bagley's household conditions were
unsanitary.

Other hotline calls allege that some of the kids
weren't being fed and that Jesse was being abused by Jennifer's
boyfriend. Those files however were not presented at Friday's inquest,
so they didn't play a part in the recommendation for charges.

The mother of two Licking brothers who drowned
in August 2009 will face charges in their deaths after she was found
criminally negligent last week by a coroner's jury.

Shortly after
the verdict was read Friday afternoon inside the Texas County Justice
Center, Prosecutor Michael Anderson said he would file charges in 7-10
days against Jennifer Bagley. Anderson said charges against Bagley could
range from endangering the welfare of a child to manslaughter.

"I'll
look at the records again and take the jury's recommendation into
consideration before I make that decision," Anderson said. "Frankly, I
didn't make up my mind until the jury helped me make up my mind."

Texas
County Coroner Tom Whittaker said there were "lingering questions
surrounding the deaths" when he announced the inquest. It was just the
second of his 13-year career as coroner.

It took a jury of six --
three male and three female -- just over an hour to render Bagley
responsible for her sons' deaths.

Law enforcement officials
testified that Bagley was responsible for watching Jesse James Bagley,
7, and his 4-year-old brother, Wyatt Earp Bagley, when they disappeared
Aug. 9 behind their home in remote northwest Texas County. An overnight
search that included as many as 300 people ended the following morning
when their bodies were discovered in the Big Piney River about 200 yards
away from the home.

According to online court records, Jennifer Bagley is charged with two
counts of involuntary manslaughter.

A coroner’s inquest jury ruled was "criminally negligent" in not keeping her children safe. The
six-member jury gathered Friday 12, 2010 in Houston to hear evidence in
the drowning deaths of Jesse James Bagley, 7, and Wyatt Earp Bagley, 4.
The boys' bodies were found Aug. 10, 2009. They had vanished the day before.

The Texas County sheriff and a deputy both testified the
children's mother, Jennifer Bagley, never assisted in the search and
never appeared to be concerned the boys were missing.

Texas County Coroner Tom Whittaker called for an inquest in the case last
month. He told a newspaper in Houston he still had some lingering questions about the case.

At the time of the boys drowned, investigators said Jesse and Wyatt had no adult supervision when they
went to play by the river, which is near their home.

The Division of Social Services was also very familiar with the Bagley household.
Records show five hotline calls made to DSS -- before the boys vanished --
about the way the children were being treated.

The sheriff says her only other child, a 3-year-old girl, is in the children's division's custody.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010


Bagley Pleads Guilty To Son's Drowning Deaths, Sentenced To 90 Days:

A mother charged in Texas County with two counts of involuntary manslaughter has pleaded guilty for her son's drowning deaths last August.
Texas County Prosecutor Mike Anderson brought those charges against Jennifer Bagley last March after a coroner's jury found Jennifer Bagley was negligent in the deaths of Jesse James and Wyatt Earp Bagley.

read more>

http://crimesceneinvestigations.blogspot.com/2010/07/bagley-scheduled-to-plead-out-in-sons.html