A Michigan mom whose infant son drowned in a bathtub while she spent 20 minutes chatting on the phone will spend less than a year behind bars after a judge credited her with time served.
As part of an agreement reached in October, Olivia Elizabeth Miller, 23, pleaded no contest to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of her 8-month-old boy, Asher Miller, in November 2023, according to authorities, WOOD-TV reported.
In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the charge of second-degree child abuse she originally faced.
On Wednesday, Kent County Judge Mark Trusock ordered Miller to one year in jail, with credit for 246 days served, according to Law & Crime. Miller will remain jailed for about four more months.
Miller called 911 last November to report her baby drowned in the bathtub at the family's Grand Rapids, Michigan home, according to court records, WOOD reported. The mother was the only one home with the infant at the time.
Despite first responders' attempts to revive him, Asher was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Authorities accused Miller of changing her story when recounting the events leading up to Asher's death several times, court records read, according to the station.
She first claimed she left her son in the tub filled with a few inches of water with the tap still running for five minutes while she went to the laundry room. She said she later returned to find Asher floating face up, the report read.
But phone records proved Miller was on a 21-minute phone call before calling 911.
"This is a tragic situation," her defense attorney, Frank Stanley previously said, according to Law & Crime. "She has suffered tremendously emotionally from the death of her child — she loves that child."
