Father sentenced for 18-month-old daughter's overdose death
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A West Allis man is going to prison after his 18-month-old daughter fatally overdosed on oxycodone last summer.
The judge sentenced Robert Gibson to 15 years in prison and 10 years extended supervision.
Gibson was found guilty of felony chronic neglect of a child. The child, Isabella Gibson, found Gibson's Percocet pills and ate them. Gibson told police he put his daughter to sleep at 9:30 on July 27th and discovered her lying face down in vomit the next day.
The defense attorney says Gibson was addicted to Percocet and he never intended to give his child the pills. The judge says Gibson failed to do his job as a father.
"There needs to be a general deterrent. I mean, if individuals in this community want to have kids, they have to care for them. I don't question your love for that child, but apparently, your drugs were at the time more important to yourself than the welfare of that child," Judge Jeffrey Wagner said.
The family of the 18-month-old was in court Friday but chose not to speak. No restitution was asked for in the case.