A Florida woman who left her 9-month-old son unattended in a bath tub at a St Louis area motel has been sentenced to seven years in prison for the child’s death.

Brooke Maynard, 24, pleaded guilty last week to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in the December 2012 drowning of Roman Bell.

 

 

Police said Maynard was planning to bathe the boy but left him unattended at a Hazelwood hotel while she was using the telephone. She found the boy not breathing and unresponsive when she returned to the bathroom.

She was originally charged with felony murder and could have faced a life prison term.