
A woman from Fall River, Massachusetts, will spend the rest of her life in prison for her involvement in the death of her boyfriend’s autistic 14-year-old son. Jaclyn Coleman, 28, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and other charges in October 2020. Her boyfriend, John Almond, pleaded guilty earlier this month and was sentenced to life in prison. When police arrived at the family’s apartment on Green Street, Fall River, they found David Almond emaciated, unresponsive, and covered in vomit. David and his twin brother Michael lived in the one-bedroom apartment with four other people, and more than 1,000 bags of fentanyl and heroin were found inside the apartment. Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III said David and Michael were subjected to “inhumane neglect” at the hands of both their father and Coleman. Both boys were in perfect health before moving in with the couple. Coleman was sentenced to life in prison, and Quinn said justice had been served. The Office of the Child Advocate released a report after David’s death that found it was the result of a “multi-system failure exacerbated by the pandemic.”