A former Eureka babysitter was sentenced Monday (Dec. 18) to five years’ probation and 500 hours of community service in connection with the death of a 13-month-old girl in 2011.
In addition, the babysitter, Jennifer Winkler, 36, of Fenton, was banned from caring for children who are not her own and ordered to continue counseling she has received since being accused of causing the infant’s death.
Winkler was initially charged with second-degree murder and child abuse after she was accused of shaking the baby, Lily Annabella Rieger, to death in Winkler’s home day care in Eureka.
However, Winkler entered a no-contest plea to involuntary manslaughter in the first degree, a class C felony, in August 2014. She withdrew the plea in November 2014, but the plea was restored on Oct. 31. A no-contest plea, also known as an Alford plea, means a defendant does not admit to a crime but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to get a conviction.
On Monday, St. Louis County Div. 18 Circuit Court Judge Ellen “Nellie” Hannigan Ribaudo, who restored the no-contest plea, sentenced Winkler to seven years in prison, but Ribaudo suspended the execution of the sentence in favor of probation.
Winkler’s lawyer, Neil Bruntrager, said his client denies shaking the baby, adding that Lily sustained injuries before July 29, 2011, when the baby was taken to the hospital, where she died two days later.
Bruntrager asked Ribaudo to place Winkler on probation because of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the case, which has been ongoing for more than six years. Bruntrager noted that during the six years Winkler had been out of custody on bond, she had not been accused of similar abuse. He also said Winkler already had spent 100 days in jail and 90 days under house arrest in 2011 and 2012.
Bruntrager further argued that Winkler was interviewed by a court-appointed psychologist who noted that Winkler showed no signs of someone who would harm a child, and that during Winkler’s divorce, the juvenile court recommended that she continue to share custody of her children with her ex-husband.
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office, which handled the case, asked for the maximum seven-year prison sentence because of the victim’s age and the suffering her family has endured.
During the hearing, Lily’s mother, Kara Rieger, broke down in tears while addressing Ribaudo before the judge made her ruling. The mother said that after talking with doctors about her daughter’s death, she realized she missed signs of abuse she should have noticed earlier and asked that her ignorance not factor into the judge’s ruling.
Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Lauren Szczucinski read a litany of injuries Lily sustained before her death, including two skull fractures and bruising on both sides of her brain.
After Winkler received probation, Lily’s mother said the sentence was not appropriate, and Lily’s grandfather said, “This is not right,” and “She (referring to Winkler) killed my granddaughter.”
Members of Lily’s family left the courtroom and spoke with Szczucinski in the hallway for several minutes with the court bailiff present.
Winkler, who did not operate a licensed day care, had watched Lily for 10 months before she died, according to court records.
On July 29, 2011, Lily’s father, Bill Weishaar, dropped the baby off at Winkler’s home, a report said. He told authorities that his daughter showed no signs of injury when he left his child with Winkler.
Winkler called the father later that morning telling him Lily was running a fever, and he reminded her to give the child Tylenol as Lily had been running fevers the previous two days. At about 2:20 p.m., Lily was breathing funny and would not wake up, and Winkler called 911. The child was rushed to SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton before being airlifted to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, a report said.
Lily underwent emergency brain surgery, but she was declared dead two days later. Doctors suspected child abuse and called police.
The St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s Office noted multiple injuries to Lily’s head, including two skull fractures and brain trauma.
The case stretched out over six years because of numerous incidents, including an appellate court order last year disqualifying St. Louis Count Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch’s office from the case, and a 2015 order by former St. Louis County Circuit Judge Steven Goldman sealing documents pertaining to a defense allegation that a prosecutor violated Winkler’s attorney-client privilege while interviewing Winkler’s former husband.
Last month, Ribaudo restored Winkler’s no-contest plea, resolving a legal dispute over whether a different judge fully understood plea negotiations and Winkler’s potential sentence.