BENTONVILLE -- A Rogers man was sentenced to 10 years in prison after admitting to co-sleeping with his 2-month-old son and causing his death.
Vincent Heyns, 24, pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a minor. The plea was under an agreement Janette McKinney, Heyns' attorney, negotiated with Wilson Raines, deputy prosecutor.
Heyns was accused of being under the influence of marijuana while co-sleeping with his 2-month-old son, causing his death, according to court documents.
Raines said Heyns recklessly caused his son's death.
Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green accepted the terms of the plea agreement and sentenced Heyns to 10 years in prison for manslaughter. Heyns also received a six-year suspended sentence for endangering. He could be sentenced up to six years in prison for violating terms of the suspended sentence agreement.
In March, Green rejected a different plea agreement attorneys had reached to resolve the case.
Benton County Sheriff's Office deputies received a call about a non-responsive child at 12671 Scenic Drive in Rogers about 2 p.m. Nov. 1, according to court documents.
Emily Heyns said she, her grandfather Robert Rose and Vincent Heyns were in the home when they realized the child wasn't breathing, according to the probable cause affidavit. She said the baby was lying in their bed in her husband's arms, according to the affidavit.
During interviews, the couple said they had been smoking marijuana, according to the affidavit. Vincent Heyns said the child was lying on his chest. He said he woke up and the baby "shimmied" down his chest and his face was pressed into the right side of his chest. "I think I squished him," Vincent Heyns said, according to the affidavit.
Rose said when he went to bed, the couple was still awake and the baby was in the bedroom. He said he woke up at 2 p.m. and knocked on the bedroom door because he hadn't heard the baby, according to the affidavit. He said they uncovered the child, and he was fine.
Rose left the room and a few minutes later, Emily Heyns came screaming for him saying, "Pa Pa, he's gone, we lost another one," according to the affidavit.
Heyns will have to serve at least 20 months in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Emily Heyns, 21, of Rogers pleaded guilty in March to endangering the welfare of minor. She was placed on six years of state-supervised probation and ordered to be evaluated for alcohol and substance abuse at Ozark Guidance. She told Green she and her husband took their son trick-or-treating and returned home and consumed marijuana, and her husband ended up falling to sleep with their baby in the bed.
On July 13, 2021, deputies were called to the same address to investigate the death of a 4-month-old child. An investigation revealed the Heynses were both sleeping with the child, who was in Vincent Heyns' arms when he died, according to the affidavit.
Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith said it's not illegal to sleep with your child. The reckless conduct comes from being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, he said.