Jun 6, 2013 2 min read

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The Ohio Supreme Court has cleared the way for the retrial of a woman convicted in the drowning of her 3-year-old son and the disappearance of his 2-year-old brother during a 2011 camping trip.

The court Wednesday sided with an appeals court in allowing the retrial of 27-year-old Kasey Klein of Zanesville to go on as scheduled next month, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The 5th District Court of Appeals ruled in January that the trial court wrongly denied a defense effort to have Klein and her husband, Richard Klein Jr., tried separately last year.

Both were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment and were sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Richard Klein’s appeal contended that the court was wrong to try the couple together and that the strategy used in his wife’s defense deprived him of due process and a fair trial, and the appeals court agreed. The court also ruled that Kasey Klein should get a new trial, too.

The Muskingum County prosecutor appealed the ruling regarding Kasey Klein, arguing that she misled the court by putting on a defense that implicated her husband. That led to Wednesday’s rejection of the appeal by the Ohio Supreme Court.

The toddlers wandered away from the family’s campsite near the Muskingum River at Ellis Dam in June 2011, authorities said. The body of the 3-year-old was found a few hours later in the water about a mile below the dam. Crews searched for the younger boy for more than a week. His body was never found.

A new trial for 40-year-old Richard Klein is scheduled for next week in Muskingum County. Kasey Klein’s retrial is set for June 25.