DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) - A Bowman woman accused of allowing her newborn baby to drown in a toilet has formally pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
KXMB-TV (https://bit.ly/1ff0iva ) reports Judge William Herauf accepted 42-year-old Stephanie Lindstrom’s guilty plea Tuesday to negligent homicide, instead of murder.
Bowman County prosecutor Andrew Weiss says medical information shows she was most likely unconscious when the baby died and he wouldn’t be able to prove her mental state warranted a murder charge.
Weiss says medical experts, legal experts and Bowman police investigators agree with the less-serious charge.
That dropped the maximum punishment from life in prison to five years in jail and a $5,000 fine.
The state has 90 days to file a pre-sentence investigation before Lindstrom will be sentenced.
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Information from: KXMB-TV, https://www.kxnet.com
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