Outrage is brewing over a decision by an Indiana judge to essentially let a mother who smothered her baby to death off the hook.
The story traces back to the morning of Aug. 29th, 2022, when Indianapolis police found suspect Dacia Lacey’s 2-month-old daughter not breathing. She was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
“Lacey told investigators that she had placed the baby on her couch, propped up with a bottle, and gone to bed. She called 911 when the baby was not breathing,” local station WTHR reported at the time.
But that wasn’t the real story.
A relative later contacted the authorities and said one of Lacey’s two other children had said to her that, prior to the newborn dying, “Yah, she was crying, and mom put a pillow over her face.”
Jennifer Armstrong the fiancée of Dacia Lacey’s father testified: “She said my mommy got really mad at her because she wouldn’t stop crying. And she held a pillow on her face and hit her with it. And I’m like, ‘What? Like, what did you just say?’” pic.twitter.com/gjw1g8XXVc
— Unlimited L’s (@unlimited_ls) April 18, 2024
After a drug screen determined that Lacey had amphetamine and methamphetamine in her system at the time of the baby’s death, she finally confessed.
“Court records show the mother gave a lengthy confession in which she tearfully admitted she smothered her daughter in the couch cushions because she was high on meth and wanted the child to stop crying and be quiet so she could get some sleep,” local station WXIN notes.
Despite this, she steadfastly maintained that what happened was an accident and that she hadn’t intended to kill her daughter.
Judge Mark Stoner for his part didn’t appear to believe her, yet he let her off the hook anyway. Why?
To be fair, Stoner first told Lacey that she was a bad mother and that she wasn’t innocent before he ruled in her favor by finding her not guilty of neglect. But why did he find her not guilty in the first place?
“The judge believed she was guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but because she wasn’t charged with that crime he instead found her not guilty of neglect resulting in death,” WXIN notes.
“At the end of her trial, Judge Stoner chastised Lacey saying her actions were reckless. Stoner though insisted prosecutors didn’t prove she intentionally harmed her daughter. Stoner told prosecutors they charged the suspect with the wrong crime,” according to the station.
“There are some things you can never do — you can never have sole possession of your children and go out and use drugs,” the judge reportedly said. “You’re not innocent, but you’re not guilty of what the state has charged you with.”
While some were partial to the judge’s argument, most critics were furious:
Leftist Judges like this are destroying the American justice system!
— T Ray (@trayj57) April 18, 2024
What sick sons of bitches, both the judge and the murderous mother. He should be removed from the bench and she should be neutered and imprisoned.
— Save Our Democracy (@SaveOurDemocr13) April 18, 2024
The charge wasn’t “bad parenting” tho. It was Neglect of a dependent resulting in death”… he rationalized the charge with bad parenting.
WTH?— Lori Brooks,ERO, WBE, WOSB & EDWOSB by the SBA (@thetaxhoney) April 18, 2024
This is why people do evil things. There’s no consequences anymore. Our justice system has been taken over by radical leftists. They’ll give a conservative protester years in jail while they set child murders free.
— American Patriot (@AmericannMan) April 18, 2024
Judge “Stoner” that’s all you need to know. Judge meth Merchan wants to put Trump in jail for going to his son‘s graduation yet the “stoner” judge lets this woman off for killing her two month old baby. There is no sanity left in the judicial system of the United States.
— SUrquhart (@Stephurquhart54) April 18, 2024
Part of the anger stems from the fact that this isn’t Stoner’s first rodeo. Stoner is already facing backlash for giving a time-served sentence to a man, Elliahs Dorsey, who four years ago killed a police officer.
“Time served? That not only was a slap in our face, but that was you stomped on us and rubbed it in the ground like she literally wasn’t there,” the deceased officer’s mother, Jennifer Leath, said to WTHR. “That’s not OK. That’s not fair.”
Local police are now coming for Stoner’s head, as are of course all the people upset over his most recent ruling.
JUST IN: Indianapolis Retired Police Officer Association (RPOA) votes UNANIMOUSLY
Calls on Judge Mark Stoner to step down from the bench
Retired Indy Officers also UNANIMOUSLY endorse FOP’s 5 Demands for Breann #StepDown #FixIt pic.twitter.com/ewIECIejIF
— Rick Snyder (@RickFOP86) April 11, 2024
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Author: Vivek Saxena
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