Woman sentenced to 12 years for infant abandonment death

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A 29-year-old woman who abandoned her newborn baby to die in an Alaska park was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Anchorage television station KTVA reports Ashley Ard, an Army soldier when her infant daughter died, was also sentenced to five years’ probation.

Ard gave birth to a baby girl on Oct. 4, 2013. She wrapped the child in a towel and left her that night at a small park in Eagle River. A man walking his dog found the baby dead the next morning.

State prosecutor Jenna Gruenstein recommended a 20-year sentence with five years suspended.

Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby said the crime was among the most serious that fall within the definition of manslaughter.

Ard with good behavior could be eligible for probation in six years. She has two other children.

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