MEDFORD, Ore. -- A Grants Pass woman who napped while her 13-month-old daughter drowned has pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide, but will not have to go to prison.
Kayla Christine LeMaster's daughter, Janayah, died last Oct. 5 after falling into a fountain at Callahan's Lodge, south of Ashland on Interstate 5.
The child made her way to the 1-foot-deep fountain when her mother fell asleep on a nearby lawn. The family's car broke down near Callahan's during a return trip to Grants Pass from Southern California, police said.
LeMaster's boyfriend, Jeremy Crozier, was napping in the car when the incident occurred.
Using drugs several days before Janayah's death contributed to LeMaster's fatigue and negligence in the case, deputy district attorney David Hoppe told the court. Hoppe refused to say what drug LeMaster and Crozier had taken.
LeMaster, 22, was eight months pregnant when Janayah drowned. The new baby was taken into protective custody and is living with his aunt and uncle in Grants Pass, said LeMaster's mother, Cheryl Chance of Merced, Calif.
LeMaster has completed parenting and drug-treatment classes in an effort to regain custody of the child, Chance said.
