Saturday, August 29, 2015
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Julie Keyes has spent more than two years in prison after she admitted causing severe head injuries to her son in 2013.
Friday, she was freed by Judge Lou D’Apolito after a hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on her request for judicial release.
Keyes, 29, told the judge she is eager to continue the treatment for alcohol abuse and counseling she received in prison. She also wants to reconnect with her children, she said.
“I’m going to do anything I have to do to be around my children,” Keyes said.
Keyes was sentenced to four years in prison in February 2014 on two counts of child endangering after she pleaded guilty to harming her infant son in July 2013. At the time, she already had been in jail since her arrest shortly after her son had been taken to the hospital. Judge D’Apolito told her she would have to serve at least two years behind bars before he would consider early release.
Judge D’Apolito said he received conduct reports that said Keyes had a spotless record and attended regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and other counseling sessions, including parenting sessions.
Mark Verkhlin, her attorney, told the judge Keyes will live with her mother and help raise a daughter she had by a previous relationship.
Verkhlin said Keyes has talked by phone from prison to her son since he was injured and the boy is developing normally. The boy is in the custody of his father. At the time of her sentencing, Verkhlin had said that Keyes was drunk when the boy was injured.
Keyes pleaded guilty in January 2014 to two counts of child endangering for harming her son while he was in her care. The baby was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital in Boardman, Police were called, and a social worker told an officer it appeared the mother was drunk, reports said.
The baby was in the hospital for almost a month with injuries to his brain. He had a shunt put in his head to relieve swelling as well as a feeding tube and underwent several weeks of therapy.
Keyes apologized for hurting her son when she was sentenced and again Friday. Judge D’Apolito said that child is his No. 1 concern.
“I want to make sure the child is safe,” Judge D’Apolito said.
Keyes was placed on probation for five years. She must continue attending parenting classes and AA meetings. She also must obtain a sponsor for AA, Judge D’Apolito said. She will undergo regular random testing for drugs and alcohol.
Judge D’Apolito also warned Keyes that if she violates any terms of her probation, she will return to prison to serve the remaining 23 months.