‘A valuable human has lost his life,’ says judge who sentenced father to prison for son’s backyard pool drowning
Updated Jan 18, 2021;
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GRAND HAVEN, MI A former Grand Rapids Community College assistant professor has received his sentence for the backyard pool drowning death of his son.
Koets, 51, was sentenced Monday, Jan. 18 in Ottawa County Circuit Court to a minimum of two years and a maximum of 15 years in prison on an involuntary manslaughter charge.
The charges stemmed from a March 2019 incident where Koets’ 16-year-old son, Samuel Koets drowned in the backyard pool at the family’s home in Georgetown Township.
The challenges and threats still posed by structural racism are real and complex.That was the message from PBS NewsHour journalist and MSNBC correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, who delivered the keynote speech virtually for the 35th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Program on Monday, Jan. 18, as the nation honored the late civil rights leader.The program, an annual collaboration between Grand Valley State University, Davenport University and Grand Rapids Community College, was
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Michigan man sentenced to prison in drowning of autistic son
A former western Michigan college professor has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty in his severely autistic teenage sonâs drowning death in an icy backyard pool
ByThe Associated Press
⢠4 min read
Catch up on the developing stories making headlines.The Associated Press
GRAND HAVEN, Mich. A former western Michigan college professor has been sentenced to prison for manslaughter in the death of his autistic teenage son, who drowned after spending an hour in an icy backyard pool with his arms restrained.
GRAND HAVEN — A Hudsonville-area father and former Grand Rapids Community College professor will serve time in a state prison for the 2019 drowning death of his teen son, who had autism.On Monday, Timothy Koets was sentenced to two to 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and one year behind bars for fourth-degree child abuse. He received credit for two days served for each of the counts.His son, Sam Koets, 16, who had the cognitive ability of a 2-year-old, died in March 2019.
Professor dad is jailed for between two and 15 YEARS after his unsupervised and severely autistic son, 16, drowned in an icy backyard pool with his hands bound
Timothy Koets, 51, was sentenced to between two and 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter
His severely autistic son, Samuel, 16, drowned in the family swimming pool in March 2019
On that fateful day, Koets left for work, claiming he thought his sleeping wife and 13-year-old daughter would keep an eye the boy
His daughter later texted him a photo of Samuel in the icy pool, to which he replied: Would you make sure freak is okay?