Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 12/03/04

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Donna Edwards - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Chief Deputy Larry Scoufos Deputy District Attorney: William J. Brockley

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

No Contest Pleas Entered By Mother of Toddlers

Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that Rena Corban, 35, entered no contest pleas to involuntary manslaughter, two counts of child endangerment, and admitted an enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury. Her maximum prison exposure is thirteen (13) years and four (4) months. Corban will be sentenced by Superior Court Judge Elaine Rushing on January 19, 2005.

On August 19, 2004 at approximately 10:00 a.m., Corban, who began drinking wine earlier in the morning, returned to her Healdsburg home in her Toyota minivan with her two sons, Liam, age 2 and Jayden, age 4. Corban entered her home and left the two boys in the driveway inside the minivan with the windows rolled up. The father of the children found the boys in the van when he returned from work at approximately 6:00 p.m. Corban was found passed out in the home. Her blood alcohol level was later determined to be .28%, more than three times the legal limit for driving a vehicle.

It was estimated that the temperature inside the van exceeded 120 degrees. Paramedics arrived but were unsuccessful in reviving the two year old boy. The child was pronounced dead at Healdsburg District Hospital. Jayden was later released that evening from the hospital to his father.

Prosecutor William Brockley said, "The District Attorney’s Office did not offer anything to the defendant other than to admit all charges and face the maximum prison time at sentencing."