Mother Of Twin Toddlers Killed In Fire Gets To 3-6 Years In Prison
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A North Braddock woman will spend 3-6 years in prison for the deaths of her two young sons.
Dalawna Berran-Lett pleaded guilty in December to two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Her twin 3-year-old sons, Ky'heir and Dy'heir, died in a house fire last January at the family's home on Rebecca Street in North Braddock.
Berran-Lett told police she left the boys home alone for about 30 minutes while she went to look for her teenage daughter, who stole marijuana out of her purse.
During that time, the boys got some ribs out of the freezer and tried to cook them in a pan of grease on the stove.
They died in the resulting fire.
The judge called Berran-Lett's actions "especially egregious" citing the fact that just two weeks prior to her sons' deaths, she had again left them home alone and returned to a kitchen fire.
Berran-Lett has been in the Allegheny County Jail since December, when she failed to report for a mandatory drug test following her guilty plea.
The 33-year old mother will serve five years of probation following her time in state prison.
She sobbed in the courtroom before telling the judge, "I'd like to apologize for my misjudgment. Not a day goes by that I don't think about my sons. Nothing like this will ever happen again."
Two family members spoke on her behalf in the courtroom.
They told KDKA after the sentencing hearing that they "love and respect (Berran-Lett)."
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