OCEAN COUNTY, NJ – On Friday, Judge Lisa A. Puglisi sentenced Helecia Morris, 41, of Brick Township, to eight years in New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), and Donna Jung, 57, of Lehigh Acres, Florida, to seven years NJSP. Both were found guilty of Endangering the Welfare of a Child. The charges stem from incidents between April 1, 2015, and January 9, 2016, in Brick Township.
Additional charges of Theft and Shoplifting led to Morris receiving sentences of four years and eighteen months, respectively. These sentences will run concurrently with one another but consecutively to her sentence for Endangering the Welfare of a Child. Both women were remanded to the Ocean County Jail pending sentencing after being found guilty on May 25.
On January 9, 2016, Brick Township Police Department officers and Division of Child Protection and Permanency representatives responded to a wellness check at a residence on Queen Ann Road. They found Morris’s biological eight-year-old son locked in a room in terrible conditions. Three children were removed from the residence and placed in foster care after being medically evaluated at Hackensack Meridian Ocean University Medical Center.
The investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victim’s Unit and the Brick Township Police Department revealed that the eight-year-old boy was confined to his room day and night by Morris and Jung. The room lacked basic amenities and he was denied access to the residence bathroom and social activities.