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An Arizona couple whose two children and niece drowned when the family drove into a flooded creek in 2019 were sentenced on Thursday.
Daniel and Lacey Rawlings were given supervised probation without jail time.
After hearing numerous statements from friends and family members, Judge Timothy Wright sentenced Daniel to 60 months of probation and 1,000 hours of community service. Lacey received 48 months of supervised probation and 480 hours of community service.
The incident occurred on Nov. 29, 2019 after a season of heavy rain in the area north of Phoenix. Authorities had placed a barricade to turn vehicles away from the flooded Bar X Crossing at Tonto Creek.
Daniel was driving a military-style vehicle with seven children in the back. Authorities allege that he drove the vehicle around the barricade and through the creek — something he had done several times earlier that day. This time, however, the vehicle was swept up in the rushing water.
The parents and four of the children were rescued by helicopter. The bodies of the couple’s 5-year-old son, Colby, and the boy’s cousin, 5-year-old Austin, were recovered the following morning.
Nearly two weeks later, the body of Colby’s sister, 6-year-old Willa, was found on the edge of a lake several miles away.