Of all the comments read here I haven't seen anyone really adressing the root of the problem and that is the disease of addiction!! Many crimes are commited that involve alcohol and/or drugs (by the way alcohol is a drug). The answer of locking people up without giving them any kind of treatment is a crime in itself. Substance abuse is an ever growing epidemic and needs to be given the proper attention it deserves. Education is the key. Providing rehabilitation services to felony criminals involoving drugs should be mandatory. Yes they may be in prison but if they get out wouldn't you want them to be better than they were before they got in?? What good does it do to just lock people up without providing them the skills for recovery and living life on life's terms??

Wow, This is incredibly sad!!!!! This father is going to have to live the rest of his life with his choice, on top of being charged with murder. Addicts love their children but they are sick people with a brain disease what about treatment with consequences. I think he definitely should have been charged but maybe with homicidal neglect or something to that effect. it is so sad the amount of inconsistencies that we have in our legal system.

Give me a break. The kid was teething and this idiot put cocaine on his kids gum to stop him from crying. He deserves to do time. Just because you do drugs doesn't excuse a crime. Stop buying into the Drug Policy Alliance lies and excuses.

Greed is a sin, not a sickness. Addiction is a sickness not a sin. Do away with all drugs and alcohol and the greedy will find something else to latch onto. Do away with all drugs and alcohol except for medical use) and addiction and the lethal activities and behaviors associated with addiction will disappear. Only greed stands in the way now, too much money generated in fines, and corruption, overpriced facilities for reabilitation. This little boys Father is now eligible to make money for endless others because of the exposure. Take a look at the big picture and remove what is causing all the damage. Quit putting banaids on the situation.

Finally someone is standing up for the children in the world that can not stand up for themselves. Neglect, abuse and maltreatment are the same, maybe in different degrees, but none the less the same. It does not matter how a child is abused it still has a major impact in the way they grow up to be in our society. We have to work on stopping the cycle now because it is only getting worse. LOVE the LITTLE CHILDREN

I agree with this sentence, People have to learn that their actions can harm others. I teach faith based recovery and believe in second chances but we have to answer for our first choices as well. Life is better than what the child got - death.

Teach him to wash his hands better.

I agree with most statements above. I just wonder why this particular case gets the spotlight? The abuse is closer than you think, in your own backyard. We need to all focus on ourselves! Keep an eye on the children in your nieghborhood and be of help that way! It angers me that we have own problems and want to put our nose where it doesnt belong. The time it takes to write in this section, I myself could be walking my daughter and her friend to school and educate them on who and what to watch for in the danger of drugs and alcohol. I just wonder why an incident in Texas gets so much attention when there is so much more kinds of abuse going on, it may have been a blessing that the little boy died so he wouldnt have been brought up to be a dealer and kill more! Better yet, he wont be exposed the dangerous behaviors of drug abuse and use!!

The verdict and sentence are an over-reaction. It is a crime and the responsibility for the childs death is the parents. However, as someone stated there appears to be "no intent". Criminal Negligent Homicide is a more appropriate finding. I agree that the state of TEXAS has yet again overacted. The parent should have been found guilty of the above charges and incarceration is appropriate. A parent is responsible for their children. Failure to keep them save from self or others is neglectful. I do NOT believe it will deter others. I will punish this individual, maybe wqay to much. It may be reversed on appeal (hopefully). The problem then is there may be no punishmen for the parent. That is another danger of over-reaching or overreacting prosecutors.

DR Doyle, saying that you're "reeling from the whole episode" sounds a bit dramatic. Any parent has the responsibility for making sure their kids are safe.

outlaw the state of texas and all alcohol in the world

I am still reeling from the whole episode -- how tragic all the way around. But, I find myself questioning "sucking on the fingers of his father, who had recently handled cocaine...experts testified that even a trace amount of cocaine could have caused acute toxicity in the toddler's body"? Does the science of this sound plausible??

Was it a crime? YES. Was it murder? NO. Murder indicates an intentional act, (not necessarily premeditated). Tragic? ABSOLUTELY. A life sentence was not warranted, however, if you compare it to the usual punishment received by child rapists and intentional physical and/or emotional abusers. Let the punishment fit the crime? IF ONLY IT WERE SO.....

These comments indicate how discrimination still exists again addiction. The hammer of justice comes down hard against those impacted by this disease. But, we read every summer about infants and children murdered by their parents because they were forgotten in hot automobiles. They are negligent, irresponsible, and deserve to be punished as severely as any addict. To paraphrase the words of a previous posted comment: Is this a crime? Yes. Is this murder? Yes. Do children need protection and safety? Yes. Should parents who endanger their children be removed from their homes, separated from their children and held accountable for their actions? Yes. It doesn't help society to overlook negligence and irresponsibility. It is essential that we view this crime as child abuse. Parents that kill their children in hot cars are seldom held accountable, let alone sentenced to a lifetime in prison. Are these parents aware of the dangers of a hot automobile, you bet! Until, we change people's understanding of addiction we will continue to see the same uneducated responses.

Unfortunately not everyone gets the key points. Child abuse is unacceptable, period. People must be held accountable for their actions; but thinking the laws and their enforcement or treatment options aren't politically or monetarily motivated is indicative of the reasons we have an escalation across the board of child abuse, addiction, domestic violence and a host of other ills. These are all parts of vicious cycles, passed on generationally, that until positively interupted and reversed with proper treatment, punishment, and legislation will continue to the end of our times.

These responses are indicative of the low level of awareness of child maltreatment. Was this a crime? Yes. Was it murder? Yes. Do children need protection and safety? Yes. Should parents who endanger their children be removed from their homes and separated from their children? Yes. It doesn't help addicts to overlook their crimes - it is essential that we view this crime as child abuse. The failure to recognize children's rights occurs among conservatives and liberals alike - this is not political, it is a human rights issue.

We have huge issues across the board in this country with addiction treatment,drug laws and sentences.I think this is a sad commentary of our once great society. No matter what the case;everywhere you turn,not just in Texas,people are doing abhorent things to children and being turned loose to continue their actions. Yet thousands of people (we helped create)as a society are rotting in prison for drug offenses, and very few receive good sound treatment and support programs.I agree we must be held accountable for our actions but BE REAL! Believe it or not,like it or not, putting Mr. Driver in prison for life will do nothing for setting an example and he will punish himself internally far worse than our justice system could ever imagine. The law makers & enforcers, insurance companies(all worried about the cost),addicts and the parents who raised them, all had a hand in the death of Dennis Jr. I'm in recovery, former liberal now conservative politico, a trained worker in the addiction field and a mother who lost her son to addiction through suicide. WAKE UP AMERICA we are losing our children, our future, our souls!

To call what happened "accidental" misses the point. It is child abuse to use drugs in the proximity of children, no less than have them at risk to ingest what is available. It is a serious crime, and we are losing a generation of children because parents/guardians choose drugs over caring.

I am glad that thinigs are coming out in the open about drug and alcohol abuse. If you are not really in a program people on the outside really don't understand about drug's and alcohol

Great news? Where's the sense of proportionality here? What would the sentence have been if it were not accidental, but intentional? Well -- as this IS Texas -- it probably would have been the death penalty. But this just highlights how extreme sentencing in the U.S. has become when an accidental death can result in a life sentence. The death of a child is always tragic and an appropriate penalty should be imposed on anyone who contributes to causing such a death. But I fear that a quarter century of Republican-dominated government with harsh, mandatory sentences has dimmed our vision so we only see black and white where there are truly many shades of gray.

This case only emphasizes how a public health endemic is misunderstood and completely spiralling out of control. Until the judicial system and the public at large know that addiciton is a non-discriminating disease, we will continue to see these tragedies.

This is great NEWS! Finally the PEOPLE are speaking out all over the country when it comes to harm done to others as a direct result of Chemical Abuse. You might want to follow a case here in New York that involves a Head On car accident causing the victim to die. The driver was driving on the opposite side of the road drunk. Was it intentional? Was it Murder? To be continued .. Steve W