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Lincoln woman sentenced to prison in child drowning case

Jacqueline Cooley
Jacqueline Cooley

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 29-year-old Lincoln woman whose 2-year-old stepson drowned after she left him alone in the bathtub has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Jacqueline Cooley was sentenced in Lancaster County District Court on Tuesday. She pleaded no contest in December to a felony child abuse charge.

Prosecutors say Cooley told police she left Jase Queen in the bathtub on Jan. 7, 2016, and left to get a towel. Mathers says when she came back two to three minutes later, he was face down and turning blue in about 10 inches of water.

Mathers says the boy’s grandmother told police he had survived a similar incident in November 2015, and Cooley told family members she had learned her lesson.

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