Washburn mother gets jail time for child’s death in bathtub

A judge rejected a plea agreement Tuesday and jailed a Washburn mother who allowed her child to drown in the bathtub while she watched TV next door.

Bayfield County authorities say Tara Amraen put her 7-month-old daughter, Ciana, in a baby chair Sept. 10 and set her in the bathtub along with a 2-year-old sibling. She then went to a neighbor’s apartment and returned minutes later to find the 7-month-old unresponsive.

Prosecutors say Amraen watched two performances on “America’s Got Talent” in her neighbor’s apartment before she returned to check on her children, but by then it was too late.

Amraen pleaded guilty in June to reckless homicide and neglecting a child.

The defense attributes her behavior to acute attention deficit disorder.

“If they get sidetracked off of a task that they’re normally doing, they can all of a sudden be focused on one thing and the world goes away,” said defense attorney Fred Bourg.

The state and the defense had agreed on a plea bargain that included no jail time, but Judge John Anderson had a different opinion.

“This plea agreement is not in the interest of justice, and I’m not going along with it,” Anderson said.

Anderson sentenced Amraen to three years on the reckless homicide charge. She’ll spend one year in confinement and two under supervision. He sentenced her to 90 days on the child neglect charge, to be served at the same time as the one-year sentence.

“Let’s not mince words, Ms. Amraen. That is gross parental incompetence the likes of which this community has rarely seen or ever seen,” Anderson said. “You have to go to jail — whether it be jail or prison — but you have to go and it will be today.”

After the hearing, Amraen’s family embraced the 28-year-old before she was taken away from the courthouse.

Amraen’s attorney said she is no longer allowed to have unsupervised visits with her remaining children.

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