A Florida woman is facing a decade behind bars following the tragic death of her infant son in 2021.
Lily Scheip, 35, was found guilty of manslaughter by a Sarasota jury in August for her involvement in the death of her 3-month-old son, Dominic, according to a report by ABC 7. The verdict concluded a case that drew significant attention in the community.
This past Monday, the judge handed down a 10-year prison sentence to Scheip, granting her credit for the time she has already served since her arrest in 2022. In addition to her prison sentence, she will also serve four years on probation.
Scheip originally faced charges of second-degree murder, which would have required the prosecution to demonstrate she acted with a “depraved mind” or a gross disregard for human life, as outlined under Florida law.
The case began on November 8, 2021, when police responded to a call from a Sarasota residence about an unresponsive infant. According to CrimeOnline, a neighbor had reported that Scheip appeared at her door with the unconscious baby.
The neighbor, a nurse by profession, immediately performed CPR until emergency responders arrived. Dominic was quickly taken to the hospital, where he sadly passed away two days later.
Officials said Dominic did not have obvious injuries, but doctors later discovered evidence of head trauma.
Scheip admitted to being with the infant when he stopped breathing, along with the baby’s older brother. Her husband had been away for the day, according to Law&Crime.
Officials ultimately deemed his death a homicide. Medical staff stated that Scheip would have been “the only person who could have delivered the blunt force impacts.”
Scheip later told investigators that she put the baby in his bassinet, and watched television with her other child. When she checked on Dominic around 20 minutes later, he didn’t respond.
She later admitted that she had dropped the infant from a recliner in September 2021. Investigators then determined that since his birth in August 2021, Dominic had a “series of” unexplainable injuries.
“The investigation revealed the child previously suffered two broken legs in September from an apparent accidental fall,” Sarasota police previously said.
“Following an autopsy, detectives learned there was one partially healed skull fracture and at least two recent impact injuries to the back of the infant’s head while he was in the exclusive care of Scheip.”
During the trial, the defense successfully reduced the charges from murder to manslaughter, after proving Scheip didn’t act with intentional malice.
Meanwhile, in a statement, family members said they were relieved that the trial was over, but some, including her in-laws, were disappointed with the sentence. Her brother-in-law stated that the ordeal “aged my parents before my eyes.”
“The victim’s family had to suffer through almost (four) years of pain from the time of the death to the time of the verdict,” the family said.
“Every time a trial date was continued, the defense was delayed, or the dates rescheduled, we were traumatized all over again, unable to fully heal.”
Scheip’s parents continue to defend her, with her mother claiming that she could not “imagine, in my wildest imagination, her hurting my grandson intentionally.”
[Feature Photo: Dominic Scheip/Dignity Memorial]
