Jail ordered for Duchesne County mom who pointed gun at son's head

DUCHESNE — A Duchesne County woman who held a loaded gun to her young son's head and threatened to shoot him has been sentenced to serve four months in jail.

Bambi Lee Richins, of Talmage, was also ordered Thursday to pay a $1,900 fine, serve 36 months on probation, complete a substance abuse assessment and any recommended counseling, and continue to attend parenting classes provided by the state Division of Child and Family Services.

In October, Richins pleaded guilty in 8th District Court to child abuse, a third-degree felony. 

Duchesne County sheriff's detectives interviewed Richins' children in July, after DCFS received an anonymous complaint. Richins' 9-year-old son told a detective his mother became angry with him while he was cleaning the living room, pointed a .22-caliber handgun at his head and said, "I am going to blow your head off," according to charging documents.

"(The boy) indicated Bambi showed him the .22 handgun and told him it was loaded," the charges state. "(He) stated he saw the gun was loaded. Bambi then told (her son) she was going to put the .22 firearm in his mouth and pull the trigger."

Richins, 35, told the children "if they said anything, they would be placed in foster care and never see her again."

Defense attorney Herb Gillespie has said that while his client doesn't dispute the state's evidence against her, she "doesn't have a specific memory" of the incident.

Richins, who is working through DCFS to be reunited with her children, told Judge Lyle Anderson Thursday that she is "truly very sorry for what happened." Anderson ordered Richins to report to the Duchesne County Jail on Saturday to begin serving her sentence.

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