Mother Admits To Being On Facebook When Baby Drowned
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4)- A mother who admitted to police that she was playing a game on Facebook when her baby drowned in the bathtub, has made a deal with prosecutors.
Shannon Johnson, 34, pleaded guilty to criminal negligence on Friday in Greeley. She left her 13-month-old son, Joseph, alone in the bathtub at their home in Fort Lupton in September 2010.
Johnson told investigators her son was unusually independent and wanted to be alone, so she was on Facebook in the other room to play a game and check in with friends.
Seven minutes later she checked and Joseph was fine. Three minutes after that, Johnson said she checked again and found the toddler's head under water.
Johnson's family, including her mother and father, the baby's grandparents, were in court to hear the guilty plea, but had no comment after the hearing.
Johnson faces 4 to 16 years in prison. The judge could sentence Johnson to probation or some variety of community corrections.
Under the original charge, child abuse resulting in death, the judge would have been bound by a mandatory 16 years in prison, up to 48 years, if a jury had convicted Johnson.
Johnson will be sentenced April 15.
