SEDGWICK COUNTY—A Kansas woman who admitted her role in the death of a 7-year-old boy learned her fate Thursday afternoon.
Judge Sean Hatfield sentenced Tasha Diane Dillard, 25, Wichita to 37-months in prison, according to the Sedgwick County District attorney's office. The judge granted a defense motion for a downward sentence departure. She was sentenced below the minimum recommended sentence guideline, according to the district attorney's office.
In early September she pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated child endangerment, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office. She had been scheduled to face a trial starting on September 15.
Dillard had originally been charged with 1st degree murder and 7 counts of aggravated endangering a child, according to the District Attorney's office.
On March 16, police responded to a call of a shooting at an apartment in the 3700 block of E Ross Parkway, according to Wichita Police Captain Aaron Moses. The caller reported that someone had been shot and that a child was bleeding.
When officers arrived, they found 7-year-old Davion Gunter suffering from a gunshot wound to his torso. Davion was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
At the scene, officers found seven other children and multiple adults. Wichita Police homicide investigators and the Exploited and Missing Children’s Unit responded immediately, conducting interviews and gathered evidence.
As a result, police took Dillard into custody, and the children were placed in protective care.