Grandmother convicted of manslaughter in child's death

ATLANTA - An East Point woman was convicted of manslaughter Friday in the death of her 3-year-old granddaughter, who was drowned in the family bathtub in August. <br> <br> Beverly Headspeth, 45, was convicted of seven charges, including involuntary manslaughter. The woman was accused not of drowning the girl, Alexis, but of neglecting to watch her. Police believe Headspeth&#39;s 11-year-old son is the one who actually held Alexis underwater. <br> <br> Jurors also returned guilty verdicts against Headspeth&#39;s boyfriend, Gregory Mena-Perez, who was convicted of four counts of cruelty to children. The jury began deliberating Thursday morning. <br> <br> ``As far as I&#39;m concerned, there was a fine line between abuse and discipline, and the defense could not prove that to me that it was discipline,&#39;&#39; juror Erin Silverstein said. ``I feel like we did the right thing.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Sentencing for both Headspeth and Mena-Perez was set for later this month. Each faces at least 10 years in prison. <br> <br> The boy accused of actually drowning Alexis likely will be charged, but not as an adult, prosecutors said. <br> <br> The Headspeth case provoked criticisms of the state Division of Family and Children Services because officials had been monitoring the family since 1999. <br> <br> The department acknowledged that a supervisor and caseworker made several mistakes the caseworker never contacted neighbors and didn&#39;t visit the house as often as required by law.

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