California mom pleads guilty in meth breast milk death
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A California woman accused of killing her infant son by breastfeeding him after she used methamphetamine has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
The Times-Standard of Eureka reports that Maggie Wortman entered her plea Monday as part of a deal with prosecutors.
An autopsy on 6-week-old Michael Acosta III found that the infant died of "methamphetamine toxicity" on Nov. 21, 2010.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prosecutors initially tried to charge Wortman with murder, saying she should have known the dangers of breastfeeding after smoking the drug. But a judge threw out the charge, saying there was insufficient evidence to support it.
Deputy District Attorney Ben McLaughlin had said he planned to re-file the murder charge, if Wortman didn't accept the plea deal.
She faces anywhere from probation to nearly 12 years in prison when she's sentenced March 5.