East Hartford accountant admits to lesser charges in autistic son’s death | News
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An East Hartford accountant who was facing a first-degree manslaughter charge in the 2019 death of his 28-year-old autistic son pleaded guilty last week to two misdemeanors involving negligence, rather than recklessness or bad intent, and is likely to get a sentence without immediate prison time.
Dat V. La, 67, who has listed an address on Bliss Street, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and negligent cruelty to a person, court records show. His plea bargain calls for him to be put on probation for two years, facing the possibility of almost two years in prison if he violates release conditions, according to the records.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 26 in Hartford Superior Court. La remains free on $30,000 bond.
His lawyer, Trent LaLima, declined to comment on the plea bargain.
The first-degree manslaughter charge La was facing originally carries up to 20 years in prison. La was charged under a provision of the manslaughter statute dealing with extreme recklessness, while also being charged with the lesser felony of intentional cruelty to a person.
La’s son, Binh La, died on May 5, 2019. He had severe autism, and Dr. Gregory Vincent, a state medical examiner, found that he died of a seizure while not receiving his prescribed seizure medication, according to the affidavit by East Hartford police Detective Patrick C. Sullivan. Vincent found that Binh La was also malnourished and weighed 85 pounds, which he listed as a second cause of death, the detective reported.
Binh La was a client of the state Department of Developmental Services. It “substantiated” a neglect complaint against his father based on a Jan. 1, 2019 complaint from the New Seasons day program that Binh La had arrived filthy, with unkempt hair, reeking of urine, and insufficiently clothed for the frigid weather, according to a police affidavit.
In January and February 2019, Dat La petitioned DDS for a residential placement for his son, but the department denied the petition, the detective reported.
Dat La appealed the denial. But DDS Regional Director Elisa Velardo and “her team” denied the appeal, instead discussing options for further services, according to the detective.
Sullivan reported that Dat La “owns an accounting business in East Hartford, and he works often.” La told the detective in October 2019 that when he was at work or away on business, his wife would take care of their son.
La and others quoted in the detective’s affidavit expressed concern about his wife’s mental health, with La saying she was a recluse even before their son died. The mother had been “committed between January and February 2019,” the detective reported.
Sullivan quoted a DDS caseworker as saying the wife had a second child who had died in a state care facility and expressing the view that she distrusted DDS as a result. He quoted the caseworker, Sarah Winiarski, as saying La’s wife had changed her son’s day program multiple times, believing he was not getting the proper services.
The day Binh La died, both his parents told an investigator from the medical examiner’s office that he was always hungry and always ate, the detective reported, adding that a cord was tied around the freezer, while the refrigerator was “fairly empty,” containing “soft liquidy foods” with “some mold.”
For updates on Glastonbury, and recent crime and courts coverage in North-Central Connecticut, follow Alex Wood on Twitter: @AlexWoodJI1, Facebook: Alex Wood, and Instagram: @AlexWoodJI.
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