Wausau mother charged in infant death pleads no contest, found guilty by court

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - A 26-year-old Wausau woman charged in the death of her three-month-old child has pled no contest to child neglect resulting in death and has been found guilty.

Shailey Huron appeared in Marathon County Court on Tuesday morning for what was scheduled to be day one of a four-day trial. However, Huron entered a no-contest plea and the court accepted and found her guilty.

Huron is expected to be sentenced on Dec. 29.

According to a press release, on March 30, 2020, police and ambulance crews responded to a home on the 100 block of N 4th Ave in Wausau for a report of a three-month-old child who was not breathing. The infant was found to have passed away. An autopsy indicated the cause of death as accidental asphyxia associated with an unsafe sleeping environment.

An investigation by police revealed Huron had invited two men to her home on the evening of March 29. According to the press release, Huron and one of the men “engaged in a night of drinking and marijuana use before going to bed”. Huron placed her three-month-old infant in bed with them. When she woke the next day, she found the child unresponsive.

According to the press release, a review of records shows Huron had been educated and warned not to co-sleep with her infant. In addition to warnings provided by a hospital nurse, a pediatrician, and a public health nurse, Huron was also provided educational material on safe sleeping habits.

In the press release, the Wausau Police Department stated, “The infant’s death is a tragedy. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, approximately 3,500 infants die annually in the United States of sleep-related infant deaths. Some of those deaths, like this one, could have been prevented. To learn about what a safe sleep environment looks like, we encourage the public to talk with a pediatrician, a public health nurse with the Marathon County Health Department, or consider resources provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the American Academy of Pediatrics.”

NOTE: Entering a no-contest plea is similar to a guilty plea, but a defendant does not formally admit to the facts of the case.

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