After abandoning her young grandchild in a ditch, a Minnesota mom was able to avoid going to jail. On a charge of putting a child in danger of injury or death, 52-year-old Anastasia Vaughn pleaded guilty.
According to a copy of the probable cause affidavit, she was detained on October 29, 2024, after a driver called to report that a lady he spotted “running away from the area” had left an infant “wearing only a sweatshirt and sweatpants” in a ditch.
The statement stated that “the temperature was in the 50 degree range and was windy and rainy,” and that the driver promptly picked up the baby.
Vaughn was discovered “stumbling” barefoot in a forested area with “bloodshot watery eyes and slurred speech and… the odour of alcohol coming from her,” according to the affidavit, when a deputy from the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office arrived on the scene and started searching for her.
Deputies tried unsuccessfully to perform a Breathlyzer test at the scene, but once they had Vaughn in custody in the Otter Tail County Detention Facility, they had greater luck.
According to the affidavit, the test’s results showed an alcohol content of.229. This is almost three times the legal limit.
Two days later, prosecutors filed charges in the Seventh District Judicial Court, and by the time Vaughn decided to enter a guilty plea in April, the case was on its way to trial.
According to a copy of the plea petition, Vaughn confessed that she “put [her grandson] down on the ground near the ditch and left him” and that she had consumed “alcoholic beverages that mixed with [her] prescribed medication” on the day of the event.
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Although the judge decided to postpone the sentence for two years, her plea was a part of an agreement with the prosecutors that permitted her to avoid serving time by reducing her 364-day sentence by 319 days.
Additionally, Vaughn has a probationary period of that duration, which means she might be imprisoned if she violates the terms of her release.
As condition of her probationary release, the court noted in his warrant that Vaughn must submit to routine testing, refrain from drinking alcohol, and have unsupervised visits with anybody under the age of 18.
