HOUSTON – A former Houston-area dentist was given five years of probation after a botched routine surgery left a girl with brain damage.
Bethaniel Jefferson was found guilty of giving Navaeh Hall, then 4 years old, too many sedatives when she had a tooth pulled in 2016, causing her to have seizures, KPRC, KSAT’s sister station in Houston, reported.
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Navaeh’s family said Jefferson restrained the child and kept her away from her mother during the medical episode.
The Houston Chronicle reported the girl had three seizures, and paramedics weren’t called for more than five hours.
Now 11, Navaeh is in a wheelchair and cannot see, speak, walk or eat on her own and requires around-the-clock care, her family testified.
Jefferson was initially indicted on charges of knowingly causing serious bodily injury to a child by omission. However, on Wednesday, she was convicted of recklessly causing injury to a child.
On Thursday during the punishment phase of her trial, the jury handed down a 10-year prison sentence but recommended probation.
Prosecutor Gilbert Sawtelle said a judge then probated her sentence to five years.
“So, in theory, she will be on probation for 5 years and required to adhere to a number of conditions the court will set tomorrow (Friday),” Sawtelle said.
On Thursday, her family was visibly upset about the punishment.
“I think the decision was very unfair,” Navaeh’s grandmother Clara Clark told reporters.
Her family will face Jefferson again on Friday when victim impact statements are read.
Last year, Jefferson was ordered to pay Navaeh’s family $95.5 million.
KPRC reported Jefferson had a history of disciplinary action, including previously failing to meet a sedation care requirement for a juvenile patient. In 2012, the Texas Board of Dental Examiners ordered her to pay a fine in that case.
Her medical license was revoked in 2016.