MADISON, Wis. — A Madison man who pleaded guilty last year after his 11-month-old child overdosed and died was sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday.
Online records show Derrick Hawkins, 26, pleaded guilty on Sept. 26, 2023 to a felony charge of neglecting a child where the consequence is death as a party to a crime.
Hawkins and 33-year-old Kelsey Kindschy were arrested and charged in September 2022 , roughly a year after their child died at a Madison-area hospital. It was later determined that the child died of an overdose due to the combined effects of fentanyl and morphine.
Kindschy was found not guilty at trial in October 2023. Hawkins’ five-year prison sentence is to be followed by five years of extended supervision.
As a condition of his release, Hawkins cannot use or possess alcohol, drug paraphernalia and/or controlled substances without a valid prescription. He also cannot have any in-person contact with children under five years old.