An Indianapolis mother, Dacia Lacey, 32, walked free this week after Judge Mark Stoner shockingly ruled she was “not guilty” of neglect resulting in the death of her two-month-old daughter Alona, despite Lacey’s confession to police that she had smothered the crying infant with couch cushions while high on meth so she could “get some sleep” in August 2022, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
At the bench trial, prosecutors presented evidence including Lacey’s 911 call screaming that her “newborn baby is dead,” her five-year-old daughter’s testimony that “Mom was mad, hit the baby with a pillow and put the pillow on her face,” and Detective Jamie Davis’ account of Lacey admitting through tears that “she did her baby wrong and said that she had smothered her baby” while “high and tired.”
However, Judge Stoner said prosecutors failed to prove Lacey killed her daughter “on purpose” and with “criminal intent,” calling it a case of Lacey being “a bad parent” but insisting “not everything that’s wrong is criminal.”
He stressed he was freeing Lacey “reluctantly,” acknowledging “You’re not innocent,” but blamed prosecutors for bringing the wrong charges.
This appalling miscarriage of justice is yet another example of our broken system’s failure to hold criminals accountable for heinous acts, even the killing of an innocent child.
Lacey’s confession alone should have been enough to convict her of manslaughter or reckless homicide and put her behind bars where she belongs.
NEW: Indianapolis mother walks free after admitting to smothering her 2-month-old baby to death between two couch cushions while high on meth.
Judge Mark Stoner found Dacia Lacey not guilty of neglect resulting in death.
Lacey confessed that she wanted her daughter to stop… pic.twitter.com/YCe0Qcjagz
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 18, 2024
Instead, a mother who smothered her baby walks free, sending the message that there are no consequences for even the most depraved and reckless acts against society’s most vulnerable.
Is it any wonder that crime continues to rise when judges let confessed killers go unpunished?
The prosecutor’s office’s refusal to comment further on this travesty only adds insult to injury.
The public deserves a full accounting of how this case was so badly mishandled.
An innocent baby is dead at the hands of a mother who was more concerned with getting high than caring for her child.
Alona and all of us have been deeply failed by the very system meant to protect us and deliver justice.
Judge Stoner should be ashamed of this disgraceful decision that makes a mockery of the rule of law.
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We must demand better, for Alona’s sake and for the safety of our communities.