By GLEN WERLING
A Bluffton woman has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for causing the death of her infant child.
Crystal Gale Grace, 38, pleaded guilty in Wells Circuit Court Feb. 16 to one count of neglect of a dependent causing bodily injury, a Level 5 felony, and possession of a narcotic drug, a Level 6 felony. She was sentenced this week.
Judge Kent Kiracofe also found Grace to be an habitual offender, which resulted in enhancement of her sentence.
Grace was ordered to serve six years in prison on the Level 5 felony, with an enhancement of an additional six years for being a habitual offender. On the Level 6 felony, she was ordered to serve two and a half years in prison. The sentences are to be served consecutively with each other aggregating 14.5 years.
She was credited for 404 days spent in confinement awaiting disposition of her case. Said credit of days are to be considered in assessing good conduct time credit.
The court also recommended that Grace be evaluated for a clinically appropriate substance abuse treatment program as determined by the Indiana Department of Correction.
She was ordered to pay a $100 child abuse prevention service fee, a $250 drug interdiction fee and court costs of $185 on each of the felony counts.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of unlawful possession of a hypodermic syringe, a Level 6 felony, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony; and neglect of a dependent wherein the defendant places the dependent in such a situation as to endanger the safety of that dependent, a Level 6 felony, were all dismissed.
On Nov. 12, 2020, Bluffton police, Bluffton Fire Department first responders and Wells County EMS were called to Grace’s Wabash Street residence. Grace told the 911 dispatcher that she believed that she had rolled on her one-month-old daughter during the night and now the girl was not breathing.
The first officer to arrive reported finding the baby in the middle of a dark-colored sectional sofa where Grace had been sleeping with the baby. The baby was by itself, discolored and not breathing. The baby was rushed by EMS to Bluffton Regional Medical Center where the girl was pronounced dead.
The report filed with the court by Bluffton Police Department Detective Cliff Thomas showed that the baby had not suffered any injuries or trauma. The cause of death was ruled as asphyxia.
A man whom Grace had been dating, the lessee of the home where Grace had been staying, told Thomas that when he came home from work at 6:15 a.m. that day following a 12-hour shift at work, he discovered Grace, the baby and Grace’s three-year-old daughter all lying on the sectional.
Shortly after that, Grace had told the man that the baby had stopped breathing and both attempted to revive the infant.
According to the police report filed with the court, Grace had lost a month-old baby to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in 2004 while married to a different man.
Grace reportedly admitted to the detective that she had prior substance abuse problems but had not taken any illegal substances since the time she discovered that she was pregnant with the infant.
However Grace’s husband, who was incarcerated at the time, told investigators that he believed that Grace might have been using illegal substances and that might have made Grace unaware of what was happening to the child.
An oral fluid drug test taken the same day of Grace reportedly showed the presence of amphetamine, methamphetamine and fentanyl in her system. A test of the infant showed no drugs in her system.
A warrant was issued for Grace’s arrest Feb. 22, 2021. She was working at the Pak-A-Sak convenience store at 904 S. Main St. when several officers arrived to serve the warrant. Upon her arrest, a small wallet was taken from her possession and during a search of the wallet, a sheriff’s deputy reportedly found a hypodermic syringe that Grace reportedly admitted that she used to “shoot” heroin. She then reportedly changed her explanation and said the substance in the syringe was probably fentanyl. A second needle was located in her right front jeans pocket during booking.
glenw@news-banner.com
