A woman who was arrested in October 2023 for giving birth to a baby in a Centralia hotel room in August 2022 and not getting the baby, who died of drug toxicity, timely medical care has been sentenced to 17-and-a-half years in prison.
Amy Denae Dixson, 41, of Shelton, pleaded guilty April 9 to one count of first-degree manslaughter, domestic violence.
“I had been using controlled substances when I gave birth to (the baby),” Dixson stated in a written guilty plea that was filed in Lewis County Superior Court. “I then passed out and woke up and (the baby) wasn’t breathing. (The baby) tested positive for controlled substances and died as a result of (a) complication to drugs.”
At the time, Dixson reportedly told law enforcement “she did not immediately summon help for the child after birth because she had active warrants for her arrest,” according to court documents.
She did call for help about two hours after the birth, according to documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court, which indicate the Centralia Police Department responded to a call from Dixson on Aug. 20, 2022.
At the time, Dixson reportedly indicated she gave birth in a hotel room, “tied off the umbilical cord with a shoestring,” cut the umbilical cord, then fell asleep for approximately two hours “and, when she awoke, the child was having difficulty breathing.”
The child was transported to the hospital but did not survive.
A pathologist later determined the baby’s death was attributed to mixed fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, meth and heroin toxicity “among other things,” according to court documents.
Toxicology reports of blood from the umbilical cord and cardiac samples from the baby reportedly showed significant amounts of methamphetamine, amphetamine, morphine and carboxy-THC in the baby’s system at the time of their death.
Dixson had been “out of the area for quite some time” when the toxicology tests came back, but law enforcement personnel eventually learned she was residing in Thurston County and located her on Monday, Oct. 2, according to court documents.
Jail records indicate Dixson was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail at 11:55 a.m. that day.
She was in custody at the Lewis County Jail on $500,000 bail up until her sentencing hearing on May 14.
She has since been transferred into Department of Corrections custody to serve out her 210-month prison sentence.
Dixson’s prison sentence will be followed by 36 months on probation, according to sentencing documents. She is also required to undergo a substance use evaluation and complete all recommended treatment.
