BLANCO, Texas — A Texas woman has been sentenced for the death of her 5-month-old daughter.
Danielle Ivy Dechert, 27, recently pleaded guilty to smothering her infant daughter to death in Blanco County.
Court documents state that Dechert was "co-sleeping" with her infant daughter when she became intoxicated by an illegal substance and smothered the 5-month-old to death.
Investigators also learned Dechert failed to provide her daughter with any medical treatment or emergency aid for more than eight hours while the infant lay lifeless in her bed. Dechert was sentenced to 40 years in jail for the charge of recklessly causing death/serious bodily injury.
According to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office, Dechert's punishment was enhanced due to a prior felony conviction for evading in a motor vehicle and endangering a child in 2014. That conviction was an unrelated incident to the smothering.
