Matt Spillane

mspillane@lohud.com

Kathleen Dymes called her 6-year-old daughter's fatal drug overdose "an accident," but it's an accident that she is guilty of nonetheless.

The Croton-on-Hudson woman pleaded guilty in Westchester County Court on Tuesday to charges stemming from the death of her daughter, Lacey Carr, last Easter Sunday.

Dymes, 52, is expected to receive a sentence of only probation in the case after pleading guilty to a felony charge of criminally negligent homicide and misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Dymes and her daughter were both found unresponsive in her Croton-on-Hudson home. They were discovered by Lacey's father, David Carr, who did not live there.

Lacey had ingested a mix of Benadryl, morphine and diazepam, a generic form of Valium. She was pronounced dead at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow.

Dymes was also hospitalized and spent two weeks in a coma. Prosecutors said two suicide notes were found in the bedroom with Dymes and her daughter.

Dymes entered the courtroom Tuesday with David Carr and sat next to him until she her case was called. She used a walker and stayed seated throughout the proceedings. She cried and wiped away tears through much of the court hearing as prosecutors read the accusations against her.

Prosecutors said Tuesday they wanted Dymes to serve some prison time in the case. Prosecutor Doreen Lloyd cited Dymes' drug addiction and criminal history, which includes charges of drunken driving and misconduct related to her former work as a nurse.

Dymes' lawyer, Hillary Nappi, argued that the situation was "complicated" and that Dymes would be better served on probation so she can continue receiving medical treatment.

Since Oct. 30 Dymes has been hospitalized at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in White Plains, where she was being treated for depression, her psychiatrist, Dr. Sara Lane, said in court last week.

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Judge Barbara Zambelli said Tuesday she planned to give Dymes five years probation for the felony charge and three years probation for each of the additional charges when Dymes is sentenced on April 12. Those terms would be served concurrently.

Zambelli said Dymes "was a devoted mother by every account I've read" and indicated her daughter's death was punishment enough.

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Zambelli noted that Dymes tried to kill herself after realizing that her daughter had died, and that Dymes "probably reminds herself of that every minute of every day."

Zambelli said Dymes didn't intend to kill Lacey, but that "it was more than an accident."

While lohud readers generally denounced the promised sentence as too lenient, Pace Law School professor Bennett Gershman said it seemed fair, given the charges of negligent homicide.

“Negligence means that you weren’t aware of a serious risk," he said. "That’s what criminal negligence is.”

Gershman added that sentencing Dymes to jail time would not act as a deterrent to others, as her crime was maintaining a dangerous household.

“The defendant pleaded guilty and admitted that she was not aware of the risk," he said.

"She should have been, but given her condition, she wasn’t. She should’ve known better, she should have done better, she should have cared for her little girl, but she didn’t. It’s a terrible tragedy.”

Reporter Matt Coyne contributed to this story.

Twitter: @MattSpillane