Fresno mother sentenced to 6 years in prison after daughter killed by train

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Emotions ran high as a distraught Fresno mother convicted of child abuse pleaded with a judge to spare her from prison on Tuesday.

"There's not a day that goes by that I don't regret any of that, and I do," Joy Frances Collins said. "And I beg for your mercy so I won't have to go into a prison."

Collins broke down as she addressed the court, saying she wished she had acted differently on December 17, 2018.

"I very much apologize, like I said, to the public and everything for all that happened during that time," Collins said.

She was talking about the night she was walking in Central Fresno with her 8-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son.

The three were rushing, trying to catch a bus, when a freight train was in their way at the rail crossing on North Diana Street and Belmont Avenue.

That is when prosecutors say Collins urged her son and daughter to crawl underneath.

Her son made it through, but then the train started to move.

It dragged Joyanna Harris for nearly 100 yards, killing the little girl.

The scene was so graphic that when a Fresno jury saw pictures during a trial earlier this fall, Collins had to excuse herself from the courtroom.

She was out of custody at the time, but now that a jury has said the 49-year-old is guilty of two counts of child abuse and endangerment, Collins sat shackled to a walker as her attorney asked the court for a new trial.

Defense Attorney Mark Broughton told Action News prosecutors should have never shown those graphic photos in court.

"We felt that by showing those gruesome photos to the jury, it inflamed their emotions, and they couldn't put that aside in deciding the actual issues in the case," Broughton said.

The judge disagreed and denied the motion. When Broughton then asked for probation, the judge rejected that, too, and sentenced Collins to six years in prison.

Court records show that Collins will be taken to Valley State Prison in Chowchilla to serve her term. She has also been ordered to pay a $1,200 fine.

As for Collins' young son, he is now in the custody of his two grandparents.

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