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Mom punished for giving child beer at Flying Squirrels game

Posted at 3:33 PM, Oct 01, 2013
and last updated 2013-10-02 00:01:14-04

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - The mother who let her six-year-old daughter drink beer at a Richmond Flying Squirrels game was sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to attend parenting classes.

However, the judge who heard the case against Erin Ellis suspended the entire jail sentence.

The woman's attorney said he planned to appeal the ruling.

Witnesses who testified in court Tuesday said they saw the six-year-old child take a sip from a cup and hand it back to Ellis during a Squirrels game in June.

An attorney for Ellis pointed out police never retrieved the cup and never sent its contents to a state lab for testing.  The attorney argued the cup could have been filled with apple juice.

Ellis was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor, following the incident. Similar charges filed against Russell Ellis, the child's father, were dropped.