Four Corpus Christi Children Neglected in Drug-Related Case

A South Texas jury has ruled a couple living on a beach with their newborn and three older children neglected the youngsters in a drug-related case.

Jurors in Corpus Christi on Friday considered the penalty for Ryan and Heather Sanders, who could get life in prison.

Investigators said Heather Sanders gave birth on the beach a few days before the couple's April 2013 arrest.

They were convicted Thursday of injury to a child by negligence and manufacture of a controlled substance- methamphetamine.

An affidavit says their daughters, ages 4 and younger, lived in a tent and were exposed to meth. The three older girls were malnourished.

Defense attorneys seek probation, saying the father was unemployed and the mother had postpartum depression.

Their daughters are now with relatives.