Matt Spillane

mspillane@lohud.com

Kathleen Dymes avoided prison time when she was sentenced to five years probation today for her role in the death of her 6-year-old daughter.

Westchester County Judge Barbara Zambelli said Dymes "has suffered more than a criminal sentence could ever accomplish."

Dymes, of Croton-on-Hudson, was sentenced a little more than a year after her daughter, Lacey Carr, died of a drug overdose in her home in a bedroom strewn with drugs, painkillers and alcohol. Lacey was found dead on April 5, 2015, Easter Sunday, after ingesting a fatal combination including morphine and over-the-counter Benadryl.

Dymes, 52, pleaded guilty in January to criminally negligent homicide, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Zambelli sentenced the former nurse to five years probation for the felony count and three years probation for each of the misdemeanor charges, which will run concurrently.

ACCUSED: Dymes charged in Lacey's death

GUILTY: Dymes pleads guilty

ANALYSIS: Homicide charge may have been hard to prove

Dymes entered the courtroom with a boot on her foot, using a rolling walker, which she sat on during the proceeding. She cried quietly as prosecutors urged Zambelli to give her prison time. Prosecutor Doreen Lloyd said that, according to the Probation Department, Dymes tested positive for marijuana at the motel she has been staying at. Lloyd said Dymes failed to appear at a scheduled hospital visit for treatment, and gave probation officials a different account of that fatal Easter than she gave to a grand jury. Lloyd said Dymes has not accepted responsibility for Lacey's death, instead shifting blame to the girl.

"I find that disgraceful," Lloyd said. "She failed in the worst possible way as a mother."

Dymes' lawyer, Peter Tilem, said Dymes is "forever altered" by Lacey's death, which she has accepted responsibility for.

"She understands, your honor, exactly what she did," he said. "She cannot escape it."

Tilem asked for probation, citing Dymes' need for physical and emotional treatment.

Tilem read a brief statement from Dymes, who, he said, was emotional and did not think she could get through reading it.

"Lacey was my beautiful little girl," she wrote. "I cannot even tell you how sorry I am."

Zambelli called Lacey's death a "tragedy," but sentenced Dymes to probation, noting that Dymes did not give her daughter the drugs.

Afterward, outside the courthouse, Tilem said Dymes had accepted responsibility for her actions.

"I don't know if sorry is the right word, but she is permanently scarred by what happened," he said.

Lacey's father, David Carr, accompanied Dymes in court but had no comment on his way out.

Dymes was accused of creating an unsafe environment that led to her daughter's death. The pair were found unresponsive in Dymes' bedroom on Easter Sunday last year by Lacey's father, David Carr, who did not live with them.

Prosecutors said Benadryl, generic Valium, oxycodone, morphine and alcohol were scattered around the room, and heroin was hidden under the bed.

Lacey was pronounced dead at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow. She had Benadryl, morphine and diazepam, the generic form of Valium, in her system, prosecutors said.

Dymes was found unconscious in the room, near two handwritten suicide notes, according to prosecutors, who said she tried to kill herself after realizing Lacey had died.

Dymes was in a coma for two weeks and has spent much of the past year hospitalized for various injuries, including circulation damage to her legs and a broken foot that hampered her during rehabilitation.

Twitter: @MattSpillane