CHATTANOOGA WOMAN SENTENCED TO ONLY ONE YEAR IN JAIL FOR CONTRIBUTING TO HER INFANT DAUGHTERS DEATH

 lawsuit+gavelA Chattanooga mother has been sentenced to nearly a year in jail on an abuse charge stemming from her daughter’s death.

Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Don Poole sentenced Traci Carpenter to 11 months and 29 days in jail followed by three years of house arrest in the 2006 death of 18-month-old Sierra Carpenter.

Carpenter pleaded guilty in February to a single count of child abuse.

Sierra died of respiratory problems and blunt-force trauma to the head. A medical examiner’s report detailed signs of ongoing abuse, including bleeding on the brain.

Carpenter’s former boyfriend, Brian Rutherford, was acquitted of charges in the child’s death in 2008.