A Pennsylvania mother has pleaded guilty to manslaughter after prosecutors said she left her toddler daughter and the family dog to die inside a locked, overheated SUV in Maine, then claimed she had been carried away by a river.
Kelly Brown, 41, entered the guilty plea Friday to manslaughter of a family or household member in the death of her young daughter, Fiona, a spokesperson for the Maine Attorney General’s Office told WMTW.
Brown also admitted to aggravated animal cruelty after authorities found Penelope, the family’s 13-year-old dog, dead along with the child.
Deputies with the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office discovered Fiona and Penelope on August 9, 2025, inside a vehicle parked outside the Freshies convenience store in Milford, Maine, the outlet reported.
Both the little girl and the dog were dead in the SUV, which was locked and had all of its windows rolled up, according to the report.
Authorities later found Brown nearby and took her into custody. Officials said she told them the family had been camping near the Penobscot River.
She allegedly claimed that while she was throwing away trash, she was swept away by the water.
Investigators, however, noted that Brown was completely dry when officers encountered her, WMTW reported.
Kelly Brown pleaded guilty to manslaughter of a family or household member on Friday in connection with the death of her baby girl, Fiona.
The 41-year-old-mother from Pennsylvania also pleaded guilty to aggravated animal cruelty after officials also found Penelope, the family’s 13-year-old dog
Fiona and Penelope were found on August 9, 2025, in a car parked outside the Freshies convenience store in Milford, Maine
According to court documents cited by WMTW, surveillance video showed Brown left the little girl and dog in the SUV hours before they were discovered.
After officials found the victims, Maine State Police and Major Crimes Unit North assisted with the investigation.
The day of the incident, temperatures in Milford reached a high of 82 degrees F, according to the criminal complaint.
Fiona’s body was transported to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta, where an autopsy was performed on August 11, 2025.
The Deputy Chief Medical Examiner reported hyperthermia was the most likely cause of death.
Brown and her child had been the subjects of an earlier-issued attempt to locate by officials to check their well-being at the request of concerned family members, according to Maine State Police.
According to court documents cited by WMTW, surveillance video showed Brown left the little girl and dog in the SUV hours before they were discovered. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter and the animal cruelty charge
The Deputy Chief Medical Examiner reported hyperthermia was the most likely cause of Fiona’s death
According to court documents, Brown was visiting family in the area at the time of the incident.
Her mother called for a welfare check on Brown after she was reportedly posting strange things to social media, according to the document.
According to the Maine Attorney General’s Office, Brown pleaded guilty Friday to manslaughter and the animal cruelty charge in hopes that, if the judge accepts the plea agreement, the murder charge will be dismissed.
Brown will serve between 20 and 25 years in prison as part of the deal.
A Maine Judicial Branch spokesperson told WMTW Brown’s sentencing is expected to be in November.
