Letha Slate

This is Letha Slate. Beautiful isn't she? She was born on August 30th, 2005 to Patricia Campbell and John Slate. Her time on this Earth wasn't long due to a stupid act on the part of her mother.  On March 25th 2006, daddy was at work and it was time for Letha to take a bath. Patricia put then 6 month old Letha in a bath seat and then decided she was sleepy so she went and took a nap.

John came home during his lunch break, I think reports say 45 mins later, and found his baby girl unresponsive.  She survived only three days in the hospital before succumbing on March 27, 2006.

Her mother was not charged with murder due to the wording in OK child neglect statue. She was charged with second degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 4 years in prison. Her accounts to police was; she put the baby in the tub and went into the next room to lie down and fell asleep.  She said that she didnt wake up until John came home and told her that the baby had drowned. It was 45 mins. She said she usually fills the tub pretty full because the baby liked to play in the water, but she puts her in a bath seat. 

The judge made it a point to let it be known that this light sentence was not an excuse for her behavior, that she did cause the death of her child. I 100% agree. If I knew that I was sleepy or tired then I would not put my 6 month old baby in a "pretty full" bath tub. John Slate worked hard with the state to put in place harder laws for child neglect. He successfully got the word "and" replaced with the word "or" and is working to get Letha's law passed in other state. It is a very sad situation, but her daddy makes sure her death was not in vain.

R.I.P baby Letha.