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A Delaware County judge sentenced a woman to several years in prison Monday after she pleaded guilty to a felony neglect charge for co-sleeping with her child, which resulted in the child’s death in June 2016.
Judge Douglas Mawhorr of the Delaware County Circuit Court No. 3 sentenced Tricia Cavanaugh, 34, to 16 years in prison
The court ordered 14 of those years to be served at the Indiana Department of Correction and two years suspended on supervised probation, according to the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office.
On Sept.3, Cavanaugh pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 3 Felony.
The charge alleged that Cavanaugh took drugs and then subjected her 4-month-old baby to unsafe sleep practices, including having the baby sleep in the same bed as the mother.
According to court records, on June 9, 2016, Muncie police officers were dispatched to Cavanaugh’s home and found her 4-month-old baby unconscious.
The baby was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The responding police officers reported that Cavanaugh appeared to be intoxicated upon their arrival. Cavanaugh told the officers that when she woke up that morning, her baby was next to her in bed, face down.
A probable cause affidavit stated that Cavanaugh took an Indiana Department of Child Services saliva drug screen and tested positive for several drugs, including hydrocodone and oxycodone. She also tested positive in a blood draw for hydrocodone and nordiazepam.
Cavanaugh had been investigated by DCS on multiple occasions for incidents involving her and her four children, according to the affidavit. She also tested positive several times for illegal or illicit substances.
Cavanaugh admitted in July 2016 she had been co-sleeping with the child prior to the child’s death.
After the sentencing hearing, Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hoffman said: “This case is a prime example of a needless death of an infant due [to] unsafe sleep practices. I, and others, have been sounding the alarm on unsafe sleep practices for years. Parents and caregivers must follow the ABC’s of the safe sleep. Infants and babies should always sleep alone, on their backs, and in a safe crib. Sleeping with the infant in an adult bed can result in the fatal smothering of an infant. Contrary to the belief of some, sleeping in [an] adult bed with your infant or, engaging in other unsafe sleep practices is, by definition, child neglect.”
Hoffman added that, despite the widespread availability of these prevention programs, locally his office continued to see these types of child abuse and neglect.
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