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Daycare Operator Tammra Straughter Sentenced to Life for Infant Murder
Read the full articleA Franklin County judge on Wednesday sentenced Reynoldsburg daycare operator Tammra Straughter to life in prison with parole eligibility after 15 years for the murder of five-month-old Kash Crawford-Chatman, who died in October 2023 from trauma consistent with shaking.
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Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Bill Sperlazza sentenced Reynoldsburg in-home child care provider Tammra Straughter on Wednesday, Oct. 7, to life in prison with parole eligibility after 15 years for the murder and child endangerment of an infant who died while in her care.
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Tammra Straughter was sentenced to life in prison, the maximum allowable penalty.
During Wednesday's proceedings, Sperlazza ordered the life sentence, which represents the maximum allowable penalty, while granting Straughter 54 days of credit for time already served in jail and establishing a 30-day window to file an appeal.
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Straughter will be eligible for parole after 15 years, and was given credit for 54 days already served. She has 30 days to file an appeal, ABC 6's Hannah Buzza reported Wednesday.
An autopsy conducted by the Franklin County coroner's office determined that Kash suffered traumatic head and neck injuries, along with brain swelling consistent with being shaken.
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The coroner’s office said the baby suffered head and neck injuries and had brain swelling consistent with being shaken.
Throughout the legal proceedings and trial, Straughter’s defense attorneys disputed allegations of abuse, maintaining that the infant had fallen sick and that Straughter attempted to help him.
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Straughter’s attorneys claimed Kash had gotten sick and that she tried to help him.
Ohio woman could serve life in prison after the death of 5-month-old boy
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The sentencing hearing in Columbus took place six weeks after a Franklin County jury convicted Straughter of murder and endangering children on Aug. 21 in the death of 5-month-old Kash Crawford-Chatman.
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In August, Tammra Straughter, 54, was found guilty of murder and endangering children after an infant was killed while in her care in Oct. 2023.
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First responders were summoned to Straughter’s home on White Butterfly Lane in Reynoldsburg on Oct. 9, 2023, after an emergency caller requested urgent medical assistance for an infant who was barely breathing.
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Someone at the home on White Butterfly Lane in Reynoldsburg called 911 asking for help with a baby who was barely breathing.
Kash was transported to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, where physicians declared the five-month-old brain dead before his family made the decision to remove him from life support four days later.
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Family members said the child was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital, where doctors declared him brain dead. Family took him off life support four days later.
Following an investigation by Reynoldsburg police and county prosecutors, a Franklin County grand jury indicted Straughter on felony counts of murder and child endangerment on Feb. 26, 2024.
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Tammra R. Straughter, of Reynoldsburg, was indicted on charges of murder and endangering children. She was arrested on Saturday.
Under Ohio law, operating an unlicensed in-home child care service is legal provided a caregiver tends to no more than six children at one time, including a maximum of three children under the age of two.
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state officials said Straughter was operating her daycare without a license. That's not necessarily illegal, though. Anyone can operate a daycare in their home as long as they have no more than six children in their care and no more than three under the age of two.