Woman Avoids Jail Time In Daughter's Overdose Death
WESTMINSTER, Md. (AP) -- A Hampstead woman is serving 18 months of home detention for manslaughter stemming from the drug overdose death of her 4-year-old daughter.
The Carroll County Times reports Paula Jane Shipley, 46, was convicted and sentenced Thursday as part of deal in which she pleaded not guilty but agreed to a statement of facts presented by the state.
The judge suspended a six-year prison sentence, and the state dropped other charges including first-degree child abuse and second-degree murder.
Shipley's daughter Cassandra died in March 2013 from a lethal dose of narcotic drugs.
Shipley told doctors her daughter might have gotten into her prescription medications.
Investigators say they found multiple prescription and nonprescription drugs in the home, and loose pills on the floor.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)