VANCOUVER, Wash. (KATU) — A judge sentenced a 39-year-old Vancouver woman to 7.5 years in prison on Tuesday after a jury found her guilty of first-degree manslaughter in the death of her 21-month-old daughter, according to The Columbian.
Katherine Richards’ daughter, Ruth, died of a fentanyl overdose in March 2024. She found her daughter dead in her crib. Officers responding to the 911 call said they found drug paraphernalia and crystal meth in the basement of the home on Z Street.
According to The Columbian, the judge in the case agreed with the prosecutor’s recommended sentence of 7.5 years. The prosecutor said while Richards had deflected responsibly and withheld information from first responders, she did not intend to cause her daughter’s death.
Court records said Richards had a friend staying with her and her husband at the time. Richards told police the friend had been smoking something off foil in the living room a day before the toddler died but denied using fentanyl herself. The friend told officers that was a lie, and she and Richards had used fentanyl together…