ELYRIA, OH (AP) – An Ohio woman has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for the death of a toddler to whom she gave the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and left alone to shop and to meet a friend at the movies.
Summer Shalodi, 32, apologized in a Lorain County courtroom Thursday and admitted giving 17-month-old Nadia Gibbons the drug while babysitting in December 2015.
Shalodi pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter instead of murder in a plea deal.
A prosecutor said Shalodi found Nadia unresponsive when she finally returned home and, instead of immediately calling 911 for help, shook the toddler and immersed her in hot water in a failed attempt to revive her.
Emergency crews found Nadia cold to the touch. The Lorain County coroner ruled she died hours before help arrived.