Mother Issued Probation for 2-Year-Old's Drowning at Lake Nasworthy

SAN ANGELO, TX — On Friday morning, Porcelain Douglas, 26, sat before Judge Brad Goodwin for her sentencing hearing in the drowning of her 2-year-old child.

Porcelain was charged with Abandoning or Endangering a Child/Criminal Negligence on Aug. 7, 2015, after her child, Treswawn Collins, drowned at Mary E. Lee Park on Lake Nasworthy. 

During her plea of guilty last month, Porcelain testified before the court to explain what occurred that day. She was sitting just off the shoreline on a floaty with Collins, who was sitting facing her chest and had his legs positioned behind her back.

Darnell Toran, 29, a co-defendant in the case, was pushing Porcelain around while she sat with the child on the floaty. Porcelain stated that Toran knew she couldn't swim and didn't understand why he would do that, even if it was to be playful.   

Sometime after this occurred, Porcelain and her child drifted away from the shoreline and eventually drifted beyond the buoys on Lake Nasworthy, roughly 50 feet away from the shoreline.

Porcelain and Toran were saved. However, afterwards Collins' body was located and recovered by law enforcement. The child was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Eddie Howard.  

Porcelain acknowledged it was her lack of insight for not having Collins in the appropriate safety gear, and that caused her son’s death. With this in mind, Goodwin declared he would need time to “review all the evidence in the case” before issuing punishment.

The court reconvened on Friday morning, and Judge Goodwin was prepared to issue Porcelain five years probation for the offense.

He made the decisions based on three points. First, he believes that what happened to Collins was, “a terrible accident.” Secondly, Porcelain had shown remorse for her involvement in Collins death and continued to be compliant with the investigation thereafter.

"There is no sentence I could issue [Porcelain] that would punish her more than what she feels every day," ​Goodwin stated.

Thirdly, Judge Goodwin believes that Porcelain being diagnosed as bipolar is a direct result of the traumatic abuse she endured as a child. He believed placing Porcelain in prison would not improve her mental condition and would further impede her parenting to her three other children after being released.

Judge Goodwin sentenced the defendant to five years probation and outlined the additional terms that would require her to receive mental health counseling and the appropriate medication for her condition.

“[Porcelain] has a choice to improve her life and the life of her family.” Goodwin declared.

The court was then adjourned, and Porcelain was turned back over to the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office detention officers to be escorted back to the jail to begin the processing of her probation.