JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville mother's fight for justice is unaltered years after a babysitter has been charged with the death of a 5-month-old boy.
In 2017, the case against Barbara Kendrick gained national attention over the boy's death. Now, his mother says the justice system has failed them.
“The day he first figured out he could laugh. He was like almost a month old," Teal Garvin, Cooper Dubovik's mother said. "We were making fart noises, and he was just giggling. He was such a boy.”
The memories are all she has left.
“Little things remind me of him," Garvin explained. "Or when I see the kids running around and playing, I can't help but think you know, he's never going to get to do that.”
In March 2017, her 5-month-old son Cooper sustained internal injuries and died – after police say his babysitter Kendrick admitted to throwing him in frustration.
After additional evidence of abuse was discovered in 2018, Kendrick was indicted on elevated charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse, to which she pled not guilty.
Four years later, Garvin is realizing this is not the open and closed case she thought it would be.
“They've been slow, they've been really slow, painful," she described. "You just relive it over and over and over again. I can't get away from it."
Last year, Kendrick agreed to change her plea to guilty to lessen the murder charge to second-degree.
Several canceled sentencing hearings later, Kendrick is now trying to withdraw her plea – her attorney citing intellectual disability in court documents.
“I have a hard time keeping faith," Garvin said. “I'm terrified that I'm not going to get a conviction. I'm terrified that my kid is not going to have justice for his murder.”
The court has ruled to have a third outside doctor come in to evaluate Kendrick before it’s decided how the case moves forward in a status hearing Friday, Apr. 9 at 4 p.m.