SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ) – A Shawano County woman who planned to hide the death of her child was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison.
23-year-old Catherine Barker was charged and convicted of failure to report the death of a child and attempting to hide a corpse.
According to police, she had plans to bury the child and then move out of the area.
Judge William Kussel also placed Barker on extended supervision for five years, according to the Clerk of Courts office.
Police were called to the home Sept. 28, 2018 to check on the welfare of a two-month-old infant. When police arrived, the baby was deceased.
According to the criminal complaint, Barker told officers she gave her son infant Tylenol Cough and Cold before putting him to bed on Sept. 27 because he was coughing a lot. Barker told officials at 4 a.m. on Sept. 28, she fed and changed him and covered him up with a blanket. Around 10 a.m., Barker said she went to check on her son and noticed he was not breathing, the complaint says.
A search of her phone showed she messaged a friend that her son died “between last night and this morning” and she was going to bury him at St. John’s Cemetery on the Menominee Indian Reservation and move to the Oshkosh or Brandon area, the complaint says.
The friend notified authorities.
A charge of child neglect causing death was dismissed.
