A Plymouth woman and her boyfriend were charged with murder Thursday, Oct. 29, in connection to the September death of the woman’s 2-year-old daughter.
Marshall County Prosecutor E. Nelson Chipman filed the murder charges against 24-year-old Krysti Lavanway and 23-year-old Shane Weedling after Lavanway pleaded guilty to her original charge of neglect of a dependent causing death, the South Bend Tribune reported.
- RELATED: Krysti Lavanway pleads guilty in connection to death of 2-year-old Serenity Wilson, Oct. 29, 2015
Serenity Wilson, 2, died Sept. 19, of multiple blunt force traumas to her head at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne. She was airlifted there after her mother brought her to the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Plymouth. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Court documents claim that Weedling beat Serenity for wetting the bed while Lavanway was at work. Lavanway arrived home from work at about 11:45 a.m., about 90 minutes after Weedling told her that he was beating Serenity and would continue until Lavanway arrived home. Police were called to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center at 2:31 p.m.
- REALTED: 2-year-old Plymouth girl was beaten for wetting the bed hours before being taken to the hospital, court documents say, Sept. 23, 2015
Weedling was previously charged with aggravated battery resulting in death, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and possession of marijuana.
When he filed the original charges, Chipman told the media that he wasn’t charging Weedling or Lavanway with murder then because prosecutors would need proof that Weedling knowingly and intentionally killed Serenity.
“It’s not out of the question,” Chipman said at the time. “We’re bound by what we think we can prove.”
