WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida babysitter has been sentenced to a year in jail for an infant’s death.
News outlets report that 28-year-old Jessica Amster pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated battery with bodily harm as part of a deal with prosecutors. She had been charged with manslaughter.
Amster will get credit for time already served, meaning she’ll be free in less than a month.
Authorities say Amster had been watching 5-month-old Christian Bent at her Boynton Beach home in August 2015. The child’s parents noticed he was unresponsive after picking him up and rushed him to the hospital. Doctors declared Christian brain dead two days later.
An autopsy found cuts, hemorrhages, brain swelling, bite marks and bone fractures, leading the medical examiner to rule the Christian's death a homicide, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Detectives say two children present at Amster’s home told authorities the woman hit the child’s head against the wall. One child said Amster had told Bent to stop crying.
