A Plymouth mom who admitted to using meth before breastfeeding her two-month-old baby, resulting in the child’s death, has been sentenced to 30 years. On December 19, Ashlee Rans, 36, called 911 saying that she fell asleep and rolled over the infant, who was now cold and not breathing, according to the Marshall County Prosecutor’s Office. But an autopsy determined the cause of death to be acute methamphetamine intoxication.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tami Napier argued in court that Rans’s actions went “beyond criminal,” according to a Prosecutor’s Office press release. Napier noted that Rans was supposed to complete a “Mothers Against Methamphetamine” course after a previous conviction in Elkhart County, and that Rans acknowledged in writing the dangers of drug usage passing through breast milk before she was discharged from the hospital with the newborn.
In the end, Marshall County Superior Court No. 1 Judge Robert Bowen sentenced Rans to 30 years in the Indiana Department of Correction, with 10 years suspended. The Prosecutor’s Office notes that with good time credit, Rans will have to serve at least 17 years in prison.
The Prosecutor’s Office says Rans has three other kids who are now in the custody of their biological father, and she’s expecting another child in September.
