Malden woman sentenced to prison in death of baby

Breon Hess
(photo source VineLink)

A Malden, MO., woman was sentenced to prison last Wednesday after pleading guilty to recklessly causing the death of a 9-month-old boy by shaking him while he was left in her care.

Breon Dannielle Lashay Hess, 26,  pleaded guilty to felony first-degree involuntary manslaughter before Presiding Circuit Judge Robert Mayer, according to Missouri Casenet.

After accepting her plea, Mayer reportedly sentenced Hess to seven years in prison.

As part of the plea, the state apparently dismissed the other two Class C felonies of abuse of a child and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. The charges stemmed from an incident that occurred Oct. 31, 2016.

Authorities learned of the incident at about 4:30 p.m. when Malden police officers were sent to an apartment on Blades Drive regarding an unresponsive infant. The infant initially was taken to Southeast Health of Stoddard County in Dexter, MO., for treatment and then transferred to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis and died four days later on November 3rd. Medical staff said the infant had been suffering from “devastating brain injuries”.