JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville mother is outraged, saying she still hasn’t gotten justice in the death of her 5-month-old boy, who died four years ago.
In March 2017, police said Cooper Dubovik died of brain injuries suffered when Barbara Kendrick threw him into a playpen because he was fussy from having a fever and teething. She was 65 at the time.
Kendrick, who was the boy’s babysitter, was eventually indicted for first-degree murder. In January 2020, Kendrick pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Teal Garvin says Kendrick was a close family friend who she trusted. Cooper was her firstborn child.
“He was such a happy child, too. Always smiling and giggling,” Garvin said. “She always seemed excited when we brought him. Like she was happy to see him. She was like, oh, my baby.”
After her guilty plea to second-degree murder, Kendrick wrote a letter to the judge, claiming a plea deal was thrown at her without giving her time to think.
“We have a guilty plea, we have a confession. We have an ME (medical examiner’s) report,” Garvin said. “We’re still four years down the road and we have nothing.”
In December, Kendrick’s attorneys filed a motion to withdraw the plea, saying she is intellectually disabled and suffers from increasing levels of dementia.
Since then, she’s undergone competency exams and the judge granted a motion for a third evaluation last month.
The case continues to slowly make its way through the courts.
“How much longer are we going to go on while my kid is dead, and I’m steadily having to relive this every month, every email, every post, every photo, and I have no, no closure,” Garvin said. “I don’t get closure?”
Kendrick’s next hearing is scheduled for April 9.