A Bell County Grand Jury indicted Courtney Seleste Casanas Wednesday evening on a charge of criminally negligent homicide, a state jail felony, in connection with the death of a toddler at a home daycare in Killeen last spring.
The case involves one-year-old Jaxson Reed, who died after police claimed Casanas, a woman officers said was an unlicensed babysitter, left him unattended in a car seat.
The family was at the courthouse Wednesday when the news that the case was before a grand jury came down. Many appeared to be crying tears of relief, hugging and laughing. It was a very different scene from how the day began.
The day started with the Reed family protesting outside of the Bell County Justice Complex and calling for Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza's removal.
When the day started Jaxson's family hadn't heard an update on his case in six months and had expressed frustrations about the length of time they had waited to learn more. Jaxson was found unresponsive tangled in car seat straps at the home daycare back in May, according to police. He died two months later in July.
"He is gone because of somebody else's negligence somebody deciding not to do their job. My grandson is gone," Jaxson's grandmother Esia Reed said.
Casanas' bond was set at $75,000, according to jail records.