Separate trial dates are now set for a Newton couple, charged in the death of their young son. Twenty-seven-year-old Alan Meter and 25-year-old Jessica Lens are charged with neglect of a dependent person.
They’ve pleaded not guilty and are free on bond. They called for an ambulance the morning of January 20th last year after finding the boy unresponsive on his first birthday.
An autopsy found the boy, Dominic, died of dehydration. A police report says the parents had shut off all of the heat vents in the apartment except for the ones in the boy’s room and closed the door. They say they were trying to help him "sweat out" a cold.
Police say the room temperature was likely between 90 and 106-degrees. Lens is to go to trial May 13th. Meter is to go to trial June 3rd.