Staff report
The second of two daycare workers charged in the 2013 death of a 5-month-old child at an unlicensed Carmel daycare was found guilty on June 5.
Kirsten Phillips, 23, was found guilty on felony counts of reckless homicide and involuntary manslaughter. A felony charge of neglect of a dependent had been previously dismissed.
Phillips’s mother, Stacey Cox, 43, was sentenced to 425 days in prison in November after being convicted by a jury of involuntary manslaughter and two misdemeanor charges for deception and operation of a child care home without a license, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.
After Cox serves her prison time, she still faces a year of work release, six months of probation and 30 hours of community service, the prosecutor’s office said.
She will be prohibited from being employed, volunteering or otherwise working in a position involving the supervision or care of any other person, the prosecutor’s office said.
Cox and Phillips, both Carmel residents at the time, were arrested as a result of the Jan. 24, 2013 death of 5-month-old Conor Tilson at an in-home daycare that Cox operated at 421 W. Main St.
Carmel police began investigating the death of the child and discovered the daycare was operating in violation of a cease and desist order given in October 2012 by the Attorney General’s Office.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed a legal action Feb. 14, 2013 in Hamilton County Circuit Court to permanently close the daycare.
According to the motion and complaint, the infant was found not breathing in a broken collapsible crib, and Cox and Phillips, who were supposed to be watching the infant, underwent a drug screen later that day and tested positive for marijuana use.
Phillips will be sentenced at 9:30 a.m. July 8 in Hamilton Superior Court 2.
