MUNCIE — A Muncie mother has been sentenced to 16 years for subjecting her infant daughter to unsafe sleeping practices, leading to the child's death.
Douglas Mawhorr, Judge of the Delaware County Circuit Court No. 3 sentenced Tricia Cavanaugh to 14 years in prison and 2 years on probabtion for the neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.
In June of 2016, Muncie police officers were called to Tricia Cavanaugh’s home after she reported her 4-month-old daughter wasn’t breathing.
Officers arrived to find Cavanaugh crying hysterically and trying to perform CPR on her daughter, Celina Miller.
Celina was immediately transported to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital. She was pronounced dead an hour later.
The responding police officers reported that Cavanaugh appeared to be intoxicated upon their arrival.
Cavanaugh told the officers that when she woke up that morning, her baby was next to her in bed, face down.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Cavanaugh received information about the dangers of co-sleeping with Celina on multiple occasions. Nursing staff in the labor and delivery unit said that despite this information, they found Cavanaugh sleeping in bed with Celina at the hospital.
DCS records showed Cavanaugh had been warned previously about co-sleeping with her then-youngest child in January 2015.
She also had a history of substance abuse. Cavanaugh reportedly tested positive for illegal substances during a DCS interview at that time, and her then-2-month-old child was temporarily removed from her home.
According to the affidavit, a search of Cavanaugh’s prescription history showed she had filled a 90-count hydrocodone prescription three days prior to Celina’s death and a 90-count prescription for gabapentin – a drug used to treat epilepsy and nerve pain – one day prior to Celina’s death.
A search of Cavanaugh’s home turned up a bottle of gabapentin with 72 pills remaining, along with several empty medication bottles, including two bottles of gabapentin, six bottles of hydrocodone and one bottle of diazepam.
Cavanaugh’s prescription history showed she had not received a prescription for diazepam since April 21, 2016, and had not received a prescription for oxycodone at all in the year prior to Celina’s death.
Celina’s health records showed she tested positive for opiates at birth and had to be placed in the NICU at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital for neonatal drug withdrawal.
During the sentencing hearing, Cavanaugh referred to herself as a “super mom,” a comment that was quickly rebuffed by Judge Mawhorr who responded “I am not so sure about that.”
After the sentencing hearing, Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hoffman said the following:
“This case is a prime example of a needless death of an infant due unsafe sleep practices. I, and others, have been sounding the alarm on unsafe sleep practices for years. Parents and caregivers must follow the ABC’s of the safe sleep. Infants and babies should always sleep Alone, on their Backs, and in a safe Crib. Sleeping with the infant in an adult bed can result in the fatal smothering of an infant. Contrary to the belief of some, sleeping in adult bed with your infant or, engaging in other unsafe sleep practices is, by definition, child neglect. Despite the wide spread availability of these prevention programs, locally we continue to see these types of child abuse and neglect. I am proud of Chief Deputy Prosecutor Zach Craig and Deputy Prosecutor Maricel Driscoll for their hard work and dedication in this case.”
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