An Ozark County woman will serve five years probation for the death of a 3-month-old she was babysitting in 2015 after a judge accepted a negotiated plea Wednesday. Forty-two-year-old Sondra Faye Clark had originally been charged with second degree murder after being indicted by a grand jury in Ozark County last year.
Clark was facing from 10-30 years or life in prison if she had been found guilty at trial, but instead accepted a negotiated guilty plea to a count of first degree endangering the welfare of a child. The judge sentenced Clark to seven years in prison with all seven suspended. Under terms of her probation, Clark may not be unsupervised with a child under the age of twelve.
It was noted in the sentencing order the state had attempted to contact the victim’s family. The mother was agreeable with the sentence. The father could not be reached.
According to the Ozark County Times and court documents in the case, a 911 call was received Aug. 26, 2015 reporting an infant was unresponsive at Clark’s home in Udall. The child was pronounced dead the same day and an investigation into the death was opened by the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office. The cause of the death was later determined as arrhythmia due to hypoxia.
Authorities at the time determined through an interview with Clark that she was babysitting and taking care of the infant. She said she picked the baby up the night before and was watching her that day.
Clark reportedly told officers she had taken drugs while babysitting. A toxicology report confirmed Clark was under the influence of controlled substance at the time.
The report states while Clark was in the drug-induced state, she rolled over on the infant while sleeping which resulted in the death of the infant.
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