MOM WHO FAILED TO CHECK ON DIABETIC DAUGHTER FOR 16 HOURS BEFORE HER DEATH GETS 30-YEAR SENTENCE

VANDERBURGH COUNTY, Ind. — Prosecutor Diana Moers announces that on Thursday, March 19, Ashley M. Bredhold was sentenced to serve 30 years in the Indiana Department of Correction following the death of her 12-year-old daughter, Alice.

The Honorable Judge Ryan D. Hatfield of the Vanderburgh County Circuit Court sentenced Bredhold to serve 30 years in prison for Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Death as a Level 1 Felony.

On July 4, 2024, Evansville Police Department officers responded to a 911 call at 506 S. New York Ave. and discovered that Alice, who had Type 1 diabetes, had passed away. The forensic pathologist determined that the cause of death was a life-threatening complication of diabetes called diabetic ketoacidosis. He also noted that the 12-year-old girl had a liver four times the normal size and a heart twice the normal size, both due to poorly controlled diabetes.

Alice had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in March 2020. At Bredhold’s trial, medical professionals testified that Bredhold had been educated for years that kids with Type 1 diabetes must be consistently managed with direct adult supervision or the disease could be fatal.

Bredhold had not set eyes on Alice for 16 hours on the day of her death. When she finally saw Alice, she noticed that she was not waking up, clammy, and foaming at the mouth – but she did not call the doctor’s office or 911 to take Alice to the hospital; instead, she had pizza ordered and called a relative to say that they might not make it to the fireworks show.

Alice’s school nurse, Deborah Seib, testified as a witness at sentencing. She remembered Alice as a smart, creative, and friendly girl who often talked about her hopes and dreams for the future. After doing all she could to help Alice manage her diabetes when she would come to school, Seib expressed a continued sense of grief and sadness following her death, and asked Judge Hatfield to deliver a just sentence.

At the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Judge Hatfield remarked on the harrowing amount of time that Alice lay dying on her bedroom floor with no one checking on her for hours, before imposing the 30-year prison sentence to hold Bredhold accountable.

Following her trial in February, a jury deliberated for just 17 minutes before finding Bredhold guilty as charged. Previously, Alice’s father, Brent Bredhold, was found guilty of Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury and sentenced to serve 9 years in prison