JASPER, Ind. (AP) -- The mother of a 2-year-old southern Indiana boy who was allowed to remain in her care after he tested positive for methamphetamine has been given a 30-year sentence in his beating death.
A Dubois County judge on Monday ordered that 23-year-old Vadney Michelle Blake of Cannelburg serve 20 years in prison, followed by 10 years on work release. She pleaded guilty last month to a battery charge.
Blake admitted striking her son, Jalen, with a candle the day before his June 2008 death from head trauma.
Jalen tested positive for methamphetamine just weeks earlier, but a state case worker did not remove him from his home.
Blake's boyfriend killed himself at a Martin County cemetery following a police chase hours after investigators interviewed her about Jalen's death.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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