Closing statements given in Leeanne Eatts trial: Day 6

Is Leeanne Eatts a blameless victim of a senseless tragedy, or an oblivious mother who is criminally responsible for her kids’ deaths?

Leeanne Chrysilla Eatts on trial for manslaughter over the death of her two sons, Barak Austral 5 and Jhulio Sariago 3.

A mother charged with the manslaughter of her two young sons in a double drowning failed to take precautions to prevent them accessing the water where they drowned, a prosecutor told a Supreme Court jury on Tuesday.

Leeanne Chrysilla Eatts, 52, has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of her two sons, Barak Brian Austral, 5 (known as Junior) and Jhulio Maximus Arturo Sariago, 3, who drowned in flooded conditions beside the Ross River in Townsville on February 25, 2019.

In his final summary, prosecutor David Nardone told the jury they had to dismiss all feelings of sympathy for Eatts and decide on her guilt or innocence through the whole of the evidence, and only the evidence.

He said that Eatts had omitted to perform her duty as a mother and failed to take reasonable precautions to avoid danger to the lives of her two sons and protect them from the body of water where they drowned.

He said that for at least one hour and 19 minutes on that day the boys were unsupervised and Eatts was either ‘oblivious or didn’t care’.

Mr Nardone said footage played to the court over the past week showed the boys in various places near their home and the Ross River and at all times they were without any supervision.

He said at no stage did Eatts delegate to anyone else to supervise the boys.

Defence barrister Tony Kimmins began his final summary by reminding the jury that manslaughter was the unlawful killing of a human being and they must prove that was what happened, beyond reasonable doubt.

He said Eatts had spent 102 days in prison after her arrest in April 2019, had been forced to wear a tracking device on her ankle since her release in July 2019.

“She has been living under a cloud of uncertainty for the past four-and-a-half years and all of this permeates every day of her life,” he said.

Mr Kimmins raised with the jury that the boys father was never investigated by the police, despite being in Townsville at the time.

Justice North gave the jury instructions, and will continue tomorrow morning, with the jury expected to retire for deliberation by mid-morning.

Originally published as Closing statements given in Leeanne Eatts trial: Day 6