An Indiana woman who pleaded guilty after her 9-day-old infant died has been sentenced to prison, according to prosecutors.
Raeleigh Phillips-Steelsmith, 24, of Lawrenceburg, admitted to reckless homicide in September in connection with the death of her 9-day-old son, Emmett Phillips, who was found cold, blue and limp in March 2024, Dearborn County Prosecutor Lynn Deddens said.
Phillips-Steelsmith was sentenced to the maximum under Indiana law for a level 5 felony of six years at the Indiana Department of Corrections.
Court records state that on March 3, 2024, Lawrenceburg police and EMS personnel received a report of an unresponsive infant at an apartment on Bellaire Drive at approximately 2:30 p.m.
An investigation determined that Phillips-Steelsmith left the infant strapped in a car seat for nearly 14 hours without feeding him.
Records state that Phillips-Steelsmith went to a friend’s house in Aurora on March 1. The next day, she put Emmett in his car seat at 1 p.m.. As they were leaving Aurora, she stopped at Kroger and got to the apartment at 2 p.m.
She noticed that her son was asleep and left the baby in the car seat. She told investigators she hung out and watched TV while her infant son was in the car seat. When Phillips-Steelsmith woke up Sunday, she noticed her son was cold and limp.
The mother’s friends took Phillips to the hospital, where they determined he was dead. Deddens said that Emmet was dead for an extended period before first responders arrived.
An autopsy was performed on Emmett Phillips, and the cause of death was determined to likely be positional asphyxia.
“The death of an infant is horrible and certainly tragic. However, the circumstances of the death and the recklessness exhibited by Phillips-Steelsmith constitute Reckless Homicide,” Deddens said.
Enquirer media partner Fox19 provided this report.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Lawrenceburg mother sentenced for baby’s death after he was left unattended in car seat
Reporting by Fox19 staff / Cincinnati Enquirer
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