PEORIA — A South Peoria woman was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison for fatally smothering her 4-month-old daughter last year while the two were sleeping on a couch.
Misty L. Kocar, 33, of 1700 W. Millman St. cried as she pleaded for probation. But Peoria County Circuit Judge John Vespa took issue with her behavior on Oct. 18, 2016, when she was allegedly intoxicated.
Kocar had been charged with both involuntary manslaughter and endangering the life and health of a child after Mariah Lawson's death. But a jury in October acquitted her of the manslaughter charge. The panel of 12 also acquitted her of a third count, also an endangerment charge, alleging Kocar allowed another child, 4, to “sleep on a dirty and bug-infested floor at 1700 W. Millman St.”
She had faced up to 10 years in prison.
On Oct. 18, 2016, the baby suffocated after Kocar smothered her with her body while the two were sleeping on a couch, according to the charges. Kocar had been intoxicated at the time, the charges allege. Her attorney, David Rumley, argued at trial that prosecutors didn’t prove his client was “reckless,” which is a key factor in the manslaughter charge. She never denied she was on the couch, and an alcohol breath test several hours later was negative, the attorney said.
However, prosecutor Donna Cruz noted that Kocar had been given parenting classes after losing custody of two other children. And one of the things she had been told was to avoid co-sleeping. None of her four children are with her, according to court records.
With credit for time served and day for day "good-time" credit, she could get out of prison in about two years.
Andy Kravetz can be reached at 686-3283 or akravetz@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @andykravetz.