CINCINNATI – A grandmother who passed out from a heroin overdose while giving her infant grandson a bath admitted in court Wednesday that she caused the boy to drown in the tub.
Kathy Huff, 43, was sentenced to six years in prison in a plea deal. She pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and felony child endangerment.
Huff cried and bowed her head for most of the court session.
"I just want to say I'm sorry," she whispered when Judge Jerome Metz asked if she had anything to say.
Huff was babysitting the 4-month-old boy on Oct. 3 when the tragedy occurred. Huff's husband found her and the child unresponsive in the tub, according to deputies. Huff admitted she snorted heroin just before her daughter dropped off the child in Cleves
The child was rushed to Cincinnati Children's Hospital but died there two weeks later.
Metz encouraged Huff to seek treatment, and her attorney said she would.
"Both she and her entire family want her to receive help," Huff's attorney, Charlie Rittgers, said. "Unfortunately, by the time they figured out she had a heroin addiction, it was too late. But she is ready and willing to go into a treatment facility."
Huff was sentenced to two years for theft and forgery in another case. She was convicted of stealing $2,000 from a client while she was a home health aide last year. She will serve her sentences concurrently.
Huff is not eligible for early release under the plea agreement.
