LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2018 death of her baby.
Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said 32-year-old Catherine Smith, of Leavenworth, pleaded guilty on Friday to manslaughter, child endangerment and obstruction of law enforcement. She had been previously charged with second-degree murder in her son’s death.
Prosecutors say the boy died of hyperthermia when his body temperature got too high. The temperature in the home was set to 75 degrees, and the child was dehydrated at the time of his death.
Prosecutors say Smith had not checked on the boy in some time before he was found unresponsive.
Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on February 28.