A Westchester County mother and onetime nurse admitted to playing a role in the death of her 6-year-old daughter, who had ingested a fatal cocktail of prescription and over-the-counter drugs on Easter before being found unconscious by father.
During a court appearance Tuesday, Kathleen Dymes pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide, child endangerment and drug possession in the April 5 death of her daughter, Lacey Carr.
But she likely won't serve a prison term for the crimes; a judge said she would probably sentence her to five years probation even though prosecutors had argued for a stiffer sentence.
"Isn't it true she probably wishes she was dead and not living without her daughter?" The judge asked. "I think that's punishment enough."
Carr's father called 911 when he couldn't wake her from her bed at their home in Croton on Easter Sunday. Dymes was found unconscious and kneeling on the floor next to her daughter's bed.
Authorities say Carr had ingested a fatal dose of Benadryl, morphine and diazepam, a powerful benzodiazepine first marketed under the brand name Valium.
Prosecutors had said Dymes knew the drugs would cause her daughter's death. Authorities found the drugs, along with an open bottle of alcohol and two handwritten notes, in the room where Carr's body was found.
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After the hearing Tuesday, Dymes was wheeled out of the courtroom on a gurney. Her attorney said that her daughter's death will weigh heavily on her for the rest of her life.
