Indiana

Prosecutors drop murder charge against mom in toddler's death

PLYMOUTH, Ind. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped a murder charge against a northern Indiana woman whose 2-year-old daughter was fatally beaten.

Krysti Lavanway, 24, of Plymouth has pleaded guilty to neglect in the death of 2-year-old Serenity Wilson. Lavanway is due to be sentenced Wednesday on that charge.

Deputy Marshall County Prosecutor Tami Napier said Monday an autopsy shows there was no evidence that Lavanway struck the child.

The child died Sept. 19 at a Fort Wayne hospital of multiple blunt-force injuries to the head. Court documents say the fatal beating occurred after Serenity wet her bed. At the time, the girl was living with her mother and Lavanway’s boyfriend, 23-year-old Shane Weedling, in a Plymouth motel.

Weedling is charged with murder.

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