Her face buried in her hands, a sea of tears – when the charges were read out, Dominik’s mother (36) could no longer contain her emotions. “Nothing is the same anymore,” says the defense attorney for the Czech woman and her partner (39). The judge considered the fatal fall from the window to be murder by gross negligence and imposed a suspended prison sentence.
“Normally he never climbed to the window because he knew he wasn’t allowed to,” the 36-year-old said during her interrogation, which was difficult due to language problems and emotional tension.
Only one window is not secured
The prosecutor accuses the couple of deliberately locking Dominik up on March 2 while they were out for a walk. The boy’s mother and foster father, who had been with the family since he was one year old, left him behind because he had fallen asleep. When he woke up, his parents were gone. “He climbed over a desk to the two windows, the larger of which was closed, but the smaller one was not,” the prosecutor said. “The smaller window was the only one in the apartment that was not secured because it was not considered a danger,” the lawyer said. The window opening is 1.5 meters high and the handle is 1.9 meters high. And he opened this very window on the 4th floor and fell to his death.
A smart whirlwind
“Dominik is said to have very good motor skills, a kindergarten teacher called him a whirlwind,” the judge said, referring to a toddler ritual in which children climb onto the windowsill and wave to their parents. “Dominik was desperate to find his parents and opened the window,” said the prosecutor, who has charged them with murder by gross negligence. The lawyer only sees a breach of due care, namely that this one window was not secured.
“I don’t know, how could this happen”
“I don’t know how this could happen,” the mother said in a Czech accent, not knowing who had locked the nursery and why. How long you wanted to stay away – “I don’t know.” Tears keep coming out.
“We never used to leave Dominik alone in the apartment,” the mother says, repeating over and over: “I don’t know how this could have happened.”
“It would have only been two screws”
“I couldn’t imagine that this could happen. I misjudged it. “It would have only been two screws,” says Dominik’s foster father, who “secured everything” in 2020 after the mother and child moved in – except for one window. And because Dominik didn’t like anything, even though he was supposed to have good motor skills and was curious, the 39-year-old didn’t think “he would climb up.”
“Going for a walk was not planned”
“We weren’t supposed to leave Dominik alone,” the 39-year-old said. “We were just about to get something out of the car when he fell asleep, but the battery in the car key was dead. Then I spontaneously said: ‘Let’s go for a walk,’” the foster father told the judge. “We lost track of time.” “Why did you lock the room?” the judge asked. “We always did that when we carried something downstairs, picked it up or when I installed a power outlet. When he wakes up and follows us. “That was meant as protection,” said the 39-year-old, who said of the March 2 incident: “I can’t explain why we were both so stupid.”
“Leaving people alone is an infringement of care”
The judge followed the prosecutor’s request and ruled that manslaughter was the result of gross negligence. The lawyer wanted a conviction for ordinary negligence. The mother and the foster father were each sentenced to ten months in prison with probation – legally binding. The reason was: not locking the window, being away for a long time and being left alone. “It is a violation of care to leave the child alone for a long time. The safe place of children’s rooms is created by the parents being close by. But he was all alone and the room was locked. And it goes without saying that he was looking for a parent.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
