Mother gets prison time for death of baby found in creek

CONWAY, S.C. (AP) — A woman has been sentenced to 27 years in prison after pleading guilty in the drowning death of her infant daughter more than a year ago in a rain-swollen creek.

Local news outlets report that 34-year-old Sarah Lane Toney pleaded guilty Wednesday to homicide by child abuse in 5-month-old Grace Carlson Santa Cruz’s death.

A forensic psychologist testified that Toney was under the influence of methamphetamine and opioids when she walked into the flooded creek near Socastee with her daughter in November 2015.

The baby’s body was recovered from the water days later. Toney told authorities she was carrying her daughter across the creek when the child was washed away.