Mother is charged in death

Authorities say she left her 9-month-old in a tub while she tried to buy drugs.

By JUSTIN GEORGE, Times Staff Writer
Published August 30, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Katrina Brooks was treated for depression last month.

SEFFNER - The day her 9-month-old son was found unconscious floating in a bathtub, Katrina Brooks told deputies she had left him unattended for just a few minutes.

But authorities said Wednesday that young Gene Vincent Kent sat in an overflowing tub for more than 25 minutes while his mother tried to buy marijuana. He died days later after he was taken off life support.

"During the course of the investigation things didn't match up," Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

Brooks, 20, was jailed Tuesday night on a charge of aggravated manslaughter. Those who know her painted a tale of a woman who had spiraled into depression after her boyfriend left her with two kids and no income. Her son's death drove her into a deeper pit, they said, and she has been remorseful ever since.

"There's no punishment out there that's worse than what she's going to give herself," said her father, Adam Brooks. "I don't really know what to say right now. ... I really don't know how this came about."

It took detectives almost a month to build their case after Brookstold them that she had left Gene and his 2-year-old sister briefly unattended on Aug. 3 to answer the door for a visitor.

A witness in the home cast doubt on that account, as did the overflowing bathtub and medical evidence, Carter said. The Hillsborough State Attorney's Office reviewed the case and charged Brooks.

She remained in jail Wednesday without bail.

The allegation surprised Gary Whitehead, who lived across from Brooks, and said she never let her children stray far.

He recalled the moment she came pounding on his door with her unconscious son dangling in her arms so wracked with grief she couldn't speak intelligibly. His wife had trouble prying the lifeless boy out of her arms to begin resuscitation, Whitehead said.

Paramedics told Brooks to stay outside, but she barged back in to watch, Whitehead said. Deputies eventually took her to the hospital after she kept fainting.

"I had never seen anyone that sad before," Whitehead said.

Brooks' aunt, Catherine Brooks, 35, said her niece's troubles began when her boyfriend of four years left her. She became depressed and was treated last month at a mental health facility, the aunt said. Family members said they never saw her using drugs.

Katrina Brooks stayed with her aunts after losing her son but couldn't sleep, Catherine Brooks said. The young mother paced the floors incessantly, clutching a purple towel or a white hospital blanket that was used on her son. She saved the tissues she had used to wipe her son's eyes while he was on life support.

"She walked around like she was a lost puppy," Catherine Brooks said. "She's a good person. She's a 20-year-old who made a mistake."

Katrina Brooks was arrested in 2006 on two counts of obtaining property with a worthless check, jail records show. Her 2-year-old daughter remains in the custody of Brooks' father. Her ex-boyfriend, George Vinson Kent, 23, was sentenced to state prison for a year for burglary and grand theft, prison records show.

While detectives investigated Gene's death, Brooks applied for food stamps and got a job at McDonald's to prove that she was a responsible mother, her father said. Her cousin, Glenda Brooks, 21, worked with her and said she took pride in her job and kept a clean work station.

But one thing she wouldn't do was step back into her mobile home, which she abandoned since the accident until last week, Catherine Brooks said. Detectives had her refill the bathtub for a re-enactment, family members said, and she ran out of the house distraught during questioning.

"If they're doing this to make her remember," she said, "she'll never forget."

Justin George can be reached at 813 226-3368 or jgeorge@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 30, 2007, 00:48:17]