TOLEDO, Ohio — An Oregon woman, Shannon Wester, whose newborn daughter died of cocaine exposure was sentenced to five years in prison Friday morning by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Joe McNamara.

The sentencing marks the first resolution in the case of the baby’s Feb. 25 death. The girl was just 8 days old when she died. A supplemental police report later determined she died of cocaine toxicity, and a grand jury indicted both of the infant’s Oregon parents on involuntary manslaughter charges this summer.

Wester pleaded guilty Oct. 9 to first-degree involuntary manslaughter for the baby’s death, and the judge made an 11-month sentence on the cocaine charge concurrent with the five-year main sentence. The infant’s father, Justin Soll, pleaded guilty to the same charges a week later and is scheduled for sentencing Wednesday.

The case has drawn local attention since February, when the 8-day-old’s death was ruled the result of cocaine toxicity. The grand jury indictments that followed made it one of several northwest Ohio cases this year highlighting the toll of drug exposure on newborns.

The Blade reported the sentencing Friday morning; background on the couple’s indictment is here, and the earlier finding on the baby’s cause of death here.

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This is a developing story and will be updated as additional details become available.

Image: Joe Gratz via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)