Background: A section of Memory Lane Mobile Home Park in Sturgis, Michigan, where the defendant and victim lived (WWMT/YouTube). Inset left: Paige Bohne (St. Joseph County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: Octavia Bohne (Dutcher Funeral Home).
A Michigan woman faces a lengthy prison sentence after being found guilty of suffocating her two-year-old daughter by pressing her into a couch, all because the toddler refused to nap. The tragic incident has shocked the local community and shed light on the severe consequences of child abuse.
Paige Bohne, 22, has been sentenced to serve between 18 and 45 years for first-degree child abuse, alongside an additional 4 to 10 years for assault with intent to cause bodily harm. Both sentences will run concurrently, and she has already been credited for 406 days of time served, according to reports from Wilcox Newspapers and other local sources. This sentencing comes after Bohne agreed to a plea deal in July, pleading no contest to the charges of child abuse and assault, which led to the dismissal of more severe charges including murder and conspiracy to commit child abuse.
The heartbreaking events unfolded on November 7, 2024, when Bohne dialed 911, claiming she found her daughter, Octavia Bohne, unresponsive at their residence in Memory Lane Mobile Home Park, located in Sturgis, Michigan. Emergency responders arrived promptly, but sadly, the child was pronounced dead. An autopsy later confirmed that suffocation was the cause of death.
In a chilling admission to authorities, Paige Bohne revealed that her daughter’s death was a result of her own actions, stating that she held Octavia down on the couch until the toddler stopped struggling, all because the young child would not take a nap. St. Joseph County Prosecutor Deborah Davis highlighted the deeply disturbing nature of Bohne’s actions, describing her behavior as “unconscionable.”
Further examinations uncovered Bohne’s neglectful and harmful actions leading up to the incident. It was reported that she failed to provide Octavia with breakfast, instead giving her “a handful of melatonin gummies,” an amount nearly three times the recommended dosage for an adult. Prosecutor Davis criticized Bohne’s attempts to force her child to sleep so she could engage in trivial activities like texting her boyfriend, browsing TikTok, and preparing food for herself, emphasizing that such neglect and poor judgment are nearly unimaginable.
Paige Bohne did not give her daughter breakfast except for “a handful of melatonin gummies” nearly “three times the amount an adult would have at peak concentration,” Davis reportedly said. “Trying to force this child back to sleep so she could text back and forth with her boyfriend, play on TikTok, and make herself something to eat is unconscionable. To not check on this child is such a lapse in judgment that it’s difficult to fathom.”
But the defendant went much further in her attempt to be left alone. Davis believed Paige Bohne put a blanket over her daughter and “held her down forcefully,” causing the child to be “smothered.” This, authorities said, is ultimately what caused her death.
“The melatonin wouldn’t have killed her, the respiratory issues wouldn’t have killed her, but having her face shoved into a couch until she stopped moving, that would do it,” Davis said, according to Wilcox Newspapers. “I don’t think Paige intended to kill her, that’s not what we’re looking at. Did she create this situation that is so dangerous? Yes, she did. She knowingly did it, and now she’s trying to rationalize it, minimize it, cover it up.”
Paige Bohne’s father — and Octavia Bohne’s grandfather — Charles Bohne, described the child’s death and aftermath as “like waking up in a nightmare.”
“You just wish you can wake up and not be there,” he added, per Kalamazoo, Michigan-based CBS affiliate WWMT. “I just want to know what happened to her. It’s all that matters right now.”
Octavia Bohne is remembered in her obituary as having been “a happy yet mischievous little girl.” She was “vibrant, full of life, cheerful, always smiling and loved to pose in front of a camera,” it added.
“Octavia loved to eat, especially cheese puffs, and enjoyed watching Peppa the Pig and Mickey Mouse,” the obit goes on. “She loved anything pink, singing and dancing to Baby Shark and butterflies. Octavia was a cuddler and had a special place in her heart for her grandpa. She was loved and cared for so much by her Aunt Alyssa, who was her most favorite person in the world.”
Sturgis is located in southern Michigan, about a 2 1/2-hour drive from Detroit.
