Mid-MO Mother Pleads Guilty

The Mid-Missouri woman accused of killing her infant claimed responsibility Monday.Cassidy King pleaded guilty as part of a plea arrangement with prosecutors. ABC 17 News has been following the story since police found the body of King’s baby in a pond near Higbee back in May 2011.King originally pleaded not guilty to the charge of second degree murder. That charge was amended to involuntary manslaughter. Still, King’s lawyer says King claims she did not kill the baby.Defense Attorney John Roodhouse says if the case had gone to trial, a jury could have decided on anything from a complete acquittal to a possible murder conviction. That’s one reason he says the plea deal was the best option for King.”This allowed her both to take responsibility for her drug addiction, which ultimately lead to the death of this child,” Roodhouse said. But that guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter comes with reservations. “Her position is that she did not deliberately murder her child,” Roodhouse told ABC 17 News.Prosecutor Mike Fusselman says a large part of the case “was going to be the birth of the child and how Cassidy King responded to that birth.”Fusselman says that’s one reason the plea deal was also the best option for the state. He tells ABC 17 News there’s been some struggle with missouri laws deciding whether a mother’s conduct during pregnancy, including alcohol and drug use, can be used to support a murder conviction.”There’s the grey area,” Fusselman began. “If we show that the mother was abusing drugs, cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, on a consistent and regular basis…then to what degree can we hold her accountable for the loss of that life?”With a jury trial capable of going either way, both sides agreed an all encompassing plea deal was the best way.King also pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. Those two guilty pleads take care of all pending charges against the woman, including one for abandonment of a corpse. King is currently serving a seven year prison sentence for a prior conviction. After that, she’ll spend eight more years behind bars stemming from those guilty pleas today.