Current:Home > NewsGeorgia woman sentenced to 30 years in prison in child care death of 4-month-old-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Georgia woman sentenced to 30 years in prison in child care death of 4-month-old
View Date:2025-01-11 11:57:49
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — A suburban Atlanta woman has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2021 murder of a 4-month-old who died after she placed him to sleep on his abdomen in the child care center she operated out of her basement.
A judge sentenced Amanda Hickey, 48, on Friday after families of children she was accused of abusing gave emotional testimony against her.
”I know that there is nothing I can say in words to take away their pain, except take responsibility and express extreme sorrow for what I’ve done,” Hickey told DeKalb County Superior Court Chief Judge LaTisha Dear Jackson, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This is my legacy now.”
Charlie Cronmiller was being cared for in Hickey’s Little Lovey child care center when he died on Feb. 3, 2021. Hickey didn’t check on him for more than two hours before finding him covered in vomit and not breathing. The infant was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Hickey operated the child care center from the basement of her Dunwoody home. She initially told investigators that she put the baby down on his back, in line with state regulations, but that the child rolled over onto his abdomen. Security video, however, showed Hickey actually placed the infant facedown.
Video showed her swinging other babies by their feet, slamming them into the ground, pulling their hair, pushing and tripping toddlers, and placing others in unsafe positions for sleep, prosecutors said. The victims ranged in age from 6 to 18 months.
Hickey was licensed to care for six children, but prosecutors said 10 were inside her home the day Charlie died.
She pleaded guilty Sept. 22 to seven counts of first-degree child cruelty, seven counts of reckless conduct, one count of second-degree child cruelty and three counts of battery. Hickey entered an Alford plea, which allows a person to maintain her innocence while acknowledging that it is in her best interest to plead guilty to charges of second-degree murder and second-degree child cruelty related to Cronmiller’s death.
“There is no remorse,” the baby’s mother, Stephanie Cronmiller, told the court Friday. “The only thing she’s sorry about is that she got caught. I focus on forgiving myself because I chose her. How could I not think this was my fault?”
Hickey was taken into custody immediately after the hearing. Jackson ordered that once Hickey is released from prison, she can’t have contact with the victims or any children younger than 13, and can’t gain financially from the case.
veryGood! (4557)
Related
- Man waives jury trial in killing of Georgia nursing student
- Biden’s Appointment of John Kerry as Climate Envoy Sends a ‘Signal to the World,’ Advocates Say
- Airline passengers are using hacker fares to get cheap tickets
- Return to Small Farms Could Help Alleviate Social and Environmental Crises
- Drone footage captures scope of damage, destruction from deadly Louisville explosion
- As Scientists Struggle with Rollbacks, Stay At Home Orders and Funding Cuts, Citizens Fill the Gap
- Conservative businessman Tim Sheehy launches U.S. Senate bid for Jon Tester's seat
- U.S. formally investigating reports of botched Syria strike alleged to have killed civilian in May
- Jax Taylor Breaks Silence on Brittany Cartwright Dating His Friend Amid Their Divorce
- ‘Is This Real Life?’ A Wall of Fire Robs a Russian River Town of its Nonchalance
Ranking
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Take the Day Off
- 50% Rise in Renewable Energy Needed to Meet Ambitious State Standards
- Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and More Famous Dads Who Had Kids Later in Life
- Kim Cattrall Returning to And Just Like That Amid Years of Feud Rumors
- What’s the secret to growing strong, healthy nails?
- California and Colorado Fires May Be Part of a Climate-Driven Transformation of Wildfires Around the Globe
- Influencer Jackie Miller James in Medically Induced Coma After Aneurysm Rupture at 9 Months Pregnant
- Small businesses got more than $200 billion in potentially fraudulent COVID loans, report finds
Recommendation
-
It's cozy gaming season! Video game updates you may have missed, including Stardew Valley
-
American Idol Contestant Defends Katy Perry Against Bullying Accusations
-
Solar Boom in Trump Country: It’s About Economics and Energy Independence
-
Congress Passed a Bipartisan Conservation Law. Then the Trump Administration Got in its Way
-
Saving for retirement? How to account for Social Security benefits
-
Britney Spears Responds to Ex Kevin Federline’s Plan to Move Their 2 Sons to Hawaii
-
Senate 2020: The Loeffler-Warnock Senate Runoff in Georgia Offers Extreme Contrasts on Climate
-
Dispute over seats in Albuquerque movie theater leads to deadly shooting, fleeing filmgoers