A woman who was charged with manslaughter and child neglect in the death of 4-year-old James Reese Jr has bonded out of jail.
The cause of the Reese’s death was found to be blunt force trauma and was ruled a homicide.
Karissa Garcia is the mother of Reese, who died after a doctor says he was thrown in a tub and hit with a belt.
Garcia said she received a notification through the VINE system that Michelle Sipko bonded out Friday.
She believes Sipko should not have gotten a bond.
Sipko, Reese’s foster mother and Garcia’s cousin, was charged with manslaughter and child neglect in his death.
Her bond was originally set at $750,000 for each charge, but she was released on a $325,000 bond on Friday.
“I wish there was no bond, especially when you either hurt a child or kill a child,” Garcia said.
Sipko’s lawyer says in this court document that she has no criminal history and isn’t a threat to the public, but Garcia disagrees.
And Garcia is disappointed in her family.
“I didn’t think my own flesh and blood would hurt one of my kids,” she said.
Garcia’s brother, Christopher Nastasi, said he’s learned that Sipko is a dangerous person.
“The 9-year-old sibling had enough sense to know her brother was in pain,” he said. “Michelle’s reply was, ‘We don’t call 9-1-1 in this household.”'
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s booking page, her location is HD1, which is home detention.
Alex Pino, the boy’s 30-year-old foster father, has been charged with second-degree murder and child abuse. He’s being held without bond as he awaits his trial.
A pretrial hearing in Pino’s case is set for July 21st.