Arkansas Parents Slammed With 70-Year Sentence After Pleading Guilty For Killing Two of Their Children

Parents, Justin Rollins, 30, and Deja Rollins, 28, were at the local children’s hospital with their 3-year-old who was suffering from abuse and severe malnutrition in October. He died at the hospital.

At the same time, one of his siblings — a 2-year-old — died of heat exhaustion in the Arkansas Children’s Hospital parking lot after the parents left him and his other three siblings inside and unattended. Their four children in the car were ages 2, 4, 7, and 10.

Police responded to the hospital after receiving a report of child abuse and neglect. They then went searching for the couple’s car, despite the disgraced couple refusing to give them its location, according to the Jacksonville Police Department.

Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Karen Whatley on Friday ordered the couple to each serve their long sentence after they each pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, plus an additional count of first-degree domestic battery for the abuse they inflicted on their 4-year-old child, Law&Crime reported.

All of the sentences will be served consecutively.

According to a press release shared by the Jacksonville Police Department, the parents, were arrested on in October 2024 after police responded to a child abuse report regarding a 3-year-old child who had been taken to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital for “urgent medical treatment.”

While authorities later discovered that the couple had four other children — ages two, four, seven and 10 — Justin and Deja were reportedly “not cooperative in providing the location of the other children.” However, the four kids were found in a car in the hospital parking lot, the release said.

“When officers arrived at ACH, security advised they received a phone call from Jacksonville Police at 12:30 p.m. informing them of four (4) victims inside a vehicle in the parking lot,” according to a Little Rock Police press release.

“The victims were removed from the vehicle by ACH security and taken inside the hospital where they appeared to be suffering from heat exhaustion. Officers observed the four victims being treated in the hospital.”

Authorities said Jacksonville Police found a “malnourished dog” at the Rollins’ home. The dog was seized by Jacksonville Animal Service.

The Rollins were taken into custody, and were both charged with five counts of first-degree domestic battery, five counts of neglect of a vulnerable person, five counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, one count of animal cruelty, and one count of obstructing government operations.

On Monday, July 8, the couple’s 2-year-old child, Jay’Dien Rollins, who was one of the four children found in the vehicle, died in the hospital. Police did not release details regarding the cause or manner of Jay’Dien’s death. However, Little Rock police said an autopsy will be performed.

Following the child’s death, the duo were charged with capital murder.