Townsville mum whose sons drowned charged over their deaths
WARNING: Indigenous readers are advised this content includes images of people who have died.
The mother of the two boys, aged three and five, who drowned in a river after the Townsville floods has been charged with two counts of manslaughter in relation to their deaths.
Leeanne Eatts, 47, was arrested on Friday following the disappearance of her sons who were found in the deep and fast-flowing Ross River, Townsville, about 7am on February 26.
She was also charged for trafficking dangerous drugs, supplying drugs to a minor, possessing drugs, permitting a place to be used in the commission of a drug offence and unlicensed driving.
The supplying drugs to a minor charge was not related to the two boys found deceased.
Eatts will appear in Townsville Magistrate Court on Saturday.
Earlier on Friday, Detective Dave Miles said Eatts’ arrest had been the result of an “arduous” five-week investigation.
“This is a catastrophic result for this family and it was a preventable tragedy,” Detective Miles said.
Detectives Miles said: “She’s (Eatts) been solely responsible for the failure (of care) as we’re going to allege in relation to these two young boys”.
He said police would allege: “There was complete inattention in relation to where these two young boys were, and there was no thought for where they may have gone to. We now know this has been the previous range of travel and also their activities on a daily basis.”
The bodies of Jhulio and Barak were found two metres apart about 10 hours after they slipped away from a home in suburban Cranbrook and walked 300 metres to the river, where they liked to swim.
The brothers’ family held a smoking ceremony for the boys at the site in March and erected two crosses on the banks of the Ross River for Jhulio and Barak, as well as a third for another indigenous boy who lost his life in the same spot about 30 years ago.
Members of Wulgurukaba Walkabout Dancers performed the smoking ceremony, while family and members of the community gathered and hugged as they remembered the two little “cheeky” boys.
Jhulio’s father and Barak’s stepfather Nathan Sariago wept as he thanked the family and community for their support, saying he was “broken” without his “beautiful boys”.
Barak’s father Barak Austral flew from Darwin to attend the ceremony.
He spoke of his boy, who he called “junior”, being “inseparable” from his stepbrother.
“I knew there was a very close bond between the boys that made me so proud,” Mr Austral added.
“Their beaming beautiful faces will always be remembered forever. Blood always will be thicker than water. Not even death will separate our sons.”
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