A Pella woman pled guilty to child endangerment resulting in death at the Marion County Courthouse this morning.
Anna Nicole Sothman, 28, turned herself into police and made the plea to the felony charge during her arraignment.
Sothman said in her plea she placed her 13-month-old daughter Elaine in a filled bath tub unsupervised for 30 to 40 minutes with running water on June 20th. Pella Police Detective Justin Bailey tells KNIA/KRLS News Anna left the bathroom and was distracted while she was away from her daughter.
“During that time period, Anna Sothman was taking phone calls, accessing Pintrest via her phone in a room away from the bathroom where the child was in the bath tub full of water,” he says. “Putting that all together, myself, the DCI, and the Marion County Attorney’s Office agreed that charges were appropriate for this case.”
The Pella Police Department received a 911 call of an unresponsive child at their Lincoln Street residence in Pella. Officers and Pella Community Ambulance personnel arrived on scene and immediately determined Elaine was unresponsive, and began lifesaving procedures.
Shortly thereafter, the girl was transported to Pella Regional Health Center via Pella Ambulance, then transferred by Life Flight to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Blank Children’s Hospital, where she was declared dead. The Polk County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death was drowning.
Pella Police Chief Robert Bokinsky says Anna’s statements to police following the death were not supported by evidence and forensic testing.
“What happened in this case is that [Elaine], or the baby in this case, had obviously been left unattended much longer than the mother had indicated she was initially,” Bokinsky says. “When we followed up on the stories we were given by the defendant, they just did not add up, and caused us to look into it deeper.”
A plea agreement was reached with the Marion County Attorney’s Office. She faces up to 50 years in prison and could pay restitution of $150,000.
The Pella Police Department worked with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation on the investigation jointly.
A sentencing hearing will be held on September 23rd.