Missouri man pleads guilty to manslaughter in infant daughter’s death
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A man accused of killing his daughter and abandoning her corpse was sentenced Friday to seven years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Staffone Fountain, 32, of Independence, Missouri, was originally charged with first-degree murder and abandoning a corpse. He pleaded guilty Friday to abandoning a corpse and first-degree involuntary manslaughter.
The state recommended a four-year sentence for abandoning a corpse and seven years for involuntary manslaughter, which will be concurrent. Fountain's defense attorney Jennifer Bukowsky called the sentence a just outcome after Fountain was initially charged with first-degree murder.
"It was confusing that the initial charges referenced the strangulation of the infant because there had not yet been an autopsy report. I'm not sure why they chose that wording, but we've had three different experts review this case. All three agree it could be an accidental asphyxiation, Bukowsky told ABC 17. "Also, this was a premature infant with a lot of health problems."
Samone Daniels, who was four to five months old when she died, was found outside of a tire store in 2019. Bukowsky said her client's death was accidental.
"I've learned a lot about this during this case. It's very important not to keep babies in car seats besides when they're in the vehicle properly installed. Now, I see a lot of people carrying around cars, carriers and using those," Bukowsky said. "That is not a safe environment for an infant to be in a car seat that's not installed with the proper angle."
Samone had a twin brother who was given up by Fountain. Carrier Coker, who read a victim impact statement during Friday's hearing, is now raising Samone's brother. Coker says that she is devastated her son won't get the opportunity to meet his sister. She added that on his birthday the family sets out a separate candle for Samone.
“Never will I forget the day I got the call from the Boone County Sheriff’s Office. The detective reached out to inform me of the identification of Samone’s remains sparring me the shock of hearing it in an upcoming news conference,” Coker said in her impact statement. “That moment left an inexplicable pain in my heart. I doubt my heart will ever fully heal from the weight of that day.”
Former Columbia Police Department Chief Geoff Jones said in June 2022 that the baby died two years before her remains were discovered. A note turned in to police in 2022 implicated Fountain in the killing, police say.
The mother of the child, Lavosha Daniels, 31, is charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and abandonment of a corpse. A judge reduced her bond from $500,000 to $100,000 in June and she posted bond Wednesday, according to court records.
Bukowsky said that Foutain's guilty plea was not related to the bond being reduced and that there was not an agreement for him to testify against Daniels. Her next hearing is set for Sept. 30.
