A Glendale woman accused of killing her 8-year-old son in Tucson two years ago will spend the next 20-plus years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and child abuse Friday.
Jennifer Jansma, 31, will have to serve every day of a 20-year sentence on the murder charge, plus 85 percent of a consecutive five-year sentence on the child abuse charge.
Jansma admitted she gave Jordan Iacovetta the allergy drug Benadryl on the morning of Nov. 28, 2007, and two adult sleeping pills that evening. Sometime later, she said, she placed four Fentanyl patches on his back.
An autopsy showed it was the Fentanyl, a pain drug more powerful than morphine, that caused the boy’s death.
By giving the boy the Ambien sleeping pills, Jansma committed child abuse under circumstances likely to cause serious physical injury or death, Assistant Pima County Public Defender Darlene Edminson-O’Brien said.
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Her client is guilty of second-degree murder because she knew giving the boy the Fetanyl could result in his death, O’Brien said.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Shawn Jensvold also noted the Benadryl in Jordan’s system was higher than normal therapeutic levels.
Jordan’s father, Woody Drummond of Colorado, said he has mixed feelings about the plea agreement.
“I think she deserves to be in there the rest of her life,” Drummond said. “But, I’m happy it’s over and I don’t have to sit through a three-week trial and endure all of that.”
Although Jansma has a history of mental health issues, Drummond said Jansma is simply a “bad person.”
“There is no justice. The only way to make this all right is to bring my child back,” Drummond said.
Drummond plans to attend Jansma’s sentencing hearing Sept. 21 before Pima County Superior Court Judge Deborah Bernini.
Jansma's mother found her unconscious and Jordan dead in a room at the Holiday Inn Express, 620 E. Wetmore Road, around 11 a.m. Nov. 29, 2007.
Jansma, who had tried to commit suicide using the Fetanyl, was originally charged with first-degree murder and faced life with or without the possibility of release.
According to state Child Protective Services documents, CPS provided services to Jansma between August 2004 and December 2004 after someone reported that Jansma was planning to give Jordan an “excessive amount of drugs to murder her son.”
Jansma and her son were both bipolar and Jordan also struggled with a speech impairment and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, CPS records indicate.
In addition to providing in-home services to help Jansma improve her parenting and coping skills, CPS workers helped her obtain behavioral health services for Jordan.
CPS documents indicate caseworkers visited with Jansma nearly 30 times during those five months and each time they reported the pair were improving.
The case was closed on Dec. 3, 2004, after it was determined Jansma had met the goals set for her and Jordan was not at risk.
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