Katherine Elizabeth Papke, has been indicted by a Calhoun County grand jury on a Manslaughter charge in the death of her infant son – who died after being left in a car this summer.
Papke was arrested by Anniston Police on August 9th, after she called them to report that she had found her four month old son unresponsive inside her car in the parking lot of her workplace.
Papke – an active duty Army soldier assigned to an Alabama National Guard unit at McClellan – had apparently gone to work that morning thinking that she had dropped her son off at daycare as usual, and didn’t realize her mistake until lunchtime.
According to the Anniston Star, Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown said the cause of the child’s death was heat stroke.
Papke’s lawyer said Tuesday that he views what happened as a tragic accident – adding that he is disappointed in the decision made by the grand jury.
That indictment – signed by Circuit Judge Debra Jones, set Papke’s bond at $50,000 in October – and prohibits her from having unsupervised visits with her two daughters, who were ages 7 and 8 at the time of their brother’s death.
Papke remains free on bond.
(Anniston Star/www.annistonstar.com)
