Wisconsin – A Wisconsin woman was sentenced last week to two years in prison plus four years of extended supervision after pIeading guiIty to one count of child negIect causing great bodiIy harm in connection with injuries sustained by her nwborn chiId.
The case stems from a traumatic incident in Nov. last year at the hospital in Wisconsin, where the several day old baby suffered two linear skuII fractures after being found on a tiIe fIoor in the hospital room. According to the criminal complaint, the parent, 25-year-old J. SoIis, allegedly overdosed on iIIegaI drugs while she was hospitalized with her baby, rendering her unconscious and unresponsive. A nurse discovered the woman unrousable in bed and found the infant on the floor beneath the hospital bed next to a baby bottle.
Wisconsin authorities obtained hospital records and child protective services files that documented ongoing concerns of prenatal drug use by the woman and her partner, D. Berrg. The complaint notes that the woman had avoided prenatal care out of fear that child protective services would become involved. Tests showed the woman’s urine was positive for marijuana and fentanyI, and the baby tested positive for cocaine, fentanyI, and THC at birth.
When detectives interviewed the woman, she initially denied the man’s involvement in drug use but later admitted that she and her co-defendant were daily heroin users, estimating her own usage at two to three times a day. She said he was the person who supplied her the drugs.
The man was also interviewed by Wisconsin authorities. He claimed he was not present in the hospital at the time the infant fell, but that the woman had told him the nurses were being ridiculous about the incident. He initially denied recent drug use, but later admitted to being a daily heroin user alongside the woman, saying he regularly purchased heroin.
Medical experts who reviewed the injuries concluded that the skull fractures were consistent with a fall from a hospital bed to a hard tile floor, not with natural causes or an accident without negligence. The nature of the fractures suggested the force of impact was significant and inconsistent with gentle handling.
At the plea hearing, the woman admitted her negligence in allowing the infant to fall while she was incapacitated from her overdose. The court accepted the plea, convicting her of child neglect resulting in great bodily harm. The judge imposed the sentence of two years’ imprisonment with four years of extended supervision, meaning she could face supervision in the community after her prison term.
