
While high on methamphetamine, a mother smothered her two-month-old baby to death because she wanted the child to “stop crying.” Now, a radical leftist judge has decided that she is not guilty of the crime, despite the mother admitting to police that she did it.
Judge Mark Stoner, who has a history of controversial decisions, declared that 32-year-old Dacia Lacey was not guilty of neglect of a dependent — which she was charged with after smothering her two-month-old daughter, Alona, in 2022, while high on methamphetamine, according to a toxicology report.
The judge cleared Lacey of her crimes — even though she admitted to police that she was guilty — noting in his ruling that her actions are the result of being “a bad parent.”
“There are some things you can never do. You can never have sole possession of your children and go out and use drugs,” Stoner said. “You’re not innocent, but you’re not guilty of what the state has charged you with.”
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
The drug addict was facing up to 40 years in prison upon conviction, but will instead walk free while her daughter will never get justice.
The judge claimed that there was “no evidence to prove the charge Lacey was facing” — which is blatantly false. She was charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, she was a drug addict that wanted her daughter to stop crying so she could sleep off her drug binge — and thus chose to murder her child. This is a clear case of neglect. In fact, she should have been charged with more serious crimes, yet the judge found her not guilty of the bare minimum.
Stoner went on to declare that “not everything that’s a mistake or everything that is wrong is criminal. Something has to be done with criminal intent and criminal responsibility, and that’s what the defendant is charged with. When the state chooses to charge an individual, they must prove they did something with criminal intent. Poor parenting, by definition, is not criminal.”
Reports indicate that there were no physical signs of the baby experiencing long-term harm from her mother, and the pathologist was unable to clearly identify the cause of death.
However, according to court documents, Lacey gave police a long, sobbing confession that included her admitting that she was high on methamphetamine and smothered her daughter to “get her to stop crying” so she could sleep. Lacey’s other daughter, who was three years old at the time of her sister’s murder, also told investigators that she witnessed her mother smother the baby with a pillow. Despite all of this, the judge let the mother walk free.
This is far from the first time that the judge has been condemned for a terrible ruling. In fact, there is a petition circulating that demands the judge resign over one of his most shocking rulings. According to local news station WTHR, Stoner is facing demands for his resignation after he sentenced a mentally ill man to “time served” for murdering a police officer.
In April 2020, officers showed up at the scene of a domestic violence call after the man’s girlfriend called 911. The violent mentally ill man reportedly shot several times through the front door, with one of the bullets hitting Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Breann Leath in the head. The girlfriend then escaped through the front door, prompting her boyfriend to shoot her multiple times in the back as she fled, stepping over the body of Leath in the process, then fled back inside the apartment and begged officers not to shoot him.
Stoner sentenced the violent offender to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of his girlfriend, but gave him a sentence of “time served” for the brutal murder of the police officer. According to Cornell Law, “time served” means that the judge believes that the time the criminal spent in custody while awaiting sentencing was enough incarceration for the crime.
The Indianapolis police union has demanded Stoner step down over this decision.
JUST IN: Indianapolis Retired Police Officer Association (RPOA) votes UNANIMOUSLY
🔴 Calls on Judge Mark Stoner to step down from the bench
🔵 Retired Indy Officers also UNANIMOUSLY endorse FOP’s 5 Demands for Breann #StepDown #FixIt pic.twitter.com/ewIECIejIF
— Rick Snyder (@RickFOP86) April 11, 2024