SALON

Friday, Sep 7, 2012 7:30 PM UTC

SC mother convicted in case of her missing son

By

Topics: From the Wires,

SC mother convicted in case of her missing sonFILE - This undated file photo provided by the Richland County Jail shows Zinah Jennings. Jurors have have begun deliberating the fate of Jennings, 23, who's 18-month-old son went missing in November, 2011. Jennings and her son were missing for a month before Jennings was found after she was in a traffic wreck on Christmas Eve. She says the boy is safe, but has refused to tell authorities where he is. (AP Photo/Richland County Jail, File)(Credit: AP)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nearly 10 months after her 18-month-old son was last seen, a South Carolina woman was convicted Friday of unlawful conduct for refusing to tell authorities where he might be, just insisting that he is safe.

Zinah Jennings, 23, showed no emotion as the verdict was read. The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for about 2 1/2 hours before issuing its decision, and a judge sentenced Jennings to the maximum of 10 years in prison. Jennings has been jailed on no bail since her arrest.

The last time Jennings’ son, Amir, was seen was November, when a security video at a Columbia bank recorded them both.

Police say Jennings repeatedly lied to them about where the boy is, telling false tales that led them to search places from Atlanta to Charlotte, N.C.

Jennings, who did not testify in her defense, has said she left the boy somewhere safe but wouldn’t give details when questioned by police. Prosecutors played a lengthy police interview in which Jennings cried as she said her son was safe but that she couldn’t prove to detectives that the boy was alive.

Investigators have found Amir’s blood on baby blankets retrieved from Jennings’ car but no other trace of him.

Some of the dozens of prosecution witnesses testified during the two-week trial that Jennings — who gave birth to a second child last week — said she was overwhelmed by the stresses of parenting an active, energetic boy and needed a break. One friend said Jennings told her she pondered selling or giving away Amir and even mentioned throwing the boy out the window of a moving car.

Other prosecution witnesses testified that they saw Jennings kick Amir when he misbehaved or squeeze his hand when he wouldn’t say “mama.” Employees at the bank where the video came from testified that Amir was often not in a car seat when his mother pulled up at a drive-thru window.

Jennings’ mother, though, said that, while she and her strong-willed daughter butted heads when it came to parenting styles, she doesn’t believe her daughter would have ever harmed Amir. Before sentencing, Jocelyn Jennings Nelson also said she thought her daughter had suffered from post-partum depression and that she tried to find counseling for her after Amir’s birth.

“She didn’t understand what her body was going through and the impact motherhood was having on her,” Nelson told the judge. “At this point, Amir could be anywhere. … I will never stop looking for him.”

It was unclear exactly who would care for Jennings’ baby girl, though her mother has said she’d be willing to do that. Judge Knox McMahon said that Jennings would get the needed medical care.

In pronouncing sentence, McMahon made it clear that his thoughts were with the boy.

“I also do not know where Amir Jennings is. … I know where his blanket is. I know where his blood is,” McMahon said. “There’s one innocent person, one blameless person, one person that cannot fend for himself in the world we live in, and that’s Amir Jennings.”

McMahon also recommended that Jennings receive counseling and ruled that she be credited with the nine months she has already served in jail.

Prosecutors and Jennings’ other family members opted not to speak with reporters. Her defense attorney said he would consult with Jennings and her family before considering filing an appeal.

___

Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

More Meg Kinnard.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations