Missouri women plead not guilty in separate child deaths

LEBANON, Mo. (AP) — Two women charged in separate child deaths in Laclede County have pleaded not guilty. Naomi Johnson pleaded not guilty Monday to second-degree involuntary manslaughter in the death of 1-year-old Kimber McDowell at Johnson’s unlicensed daycare in Lebanon on June 3, 2020. Investigators say Johnson told them she swaddled the toddler and left her on a bed before realizing later that the girl was not breathing. Also on Monday, Angela Coleman pleaded not guilty to first-degree child endangerment in the August 2021 death of 3-year-old Mason Sadler, who drowned in a pond while Sadler was caring for him.