MARION — A Marion woman who admitted to slamming a toddler on the floor, causing him a serious brain injury, has been sentenced to the maximum of three years in prison.

Felicia R. Brown, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of endangering children, a third-degree felony, in February after a toddler she was taking care of last year suffered a brain bleed.

Brown was initially charged with one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, in Marion County Common Pleas Court. That charge, which would have carried a maximum penalty of eight years in prison, was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

At Brown's sentencing Friday, Marion County Common Pleas Judge Jason Warner read aloud part of a statement written by Brown in which she detailed how the toddler was injured.

In the statement as read by Warner, Brown admitted to "slamming" the 21-month-old onto the floor out of frustration in September.

The toddler was the child of the man Brown was dating at the time, Marion County Assistant Prosecutor Demetrius Daniels-Hill has said.

In the statement, Brown recalled walking up the stairs of a Marion house behind the toddler, who she said kept stopping and tripping her.

"When we got to the top step, he stopped again, and I shoved him to keep him moving, and he fell forward and smacked his head on the step," Warner quoted from Brown's statement.

She wrote that when they got to his bedroom, she "went to change him and slammed him on the floor."

"I was aggravated with everything that was going on, ... and I let my anger and frustration get the best of me," Brown said in the statement, saying she deeply regretted how she reacted.

The toddler was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus with a subdural hematoma, or bleeding around the brain, and with bruising to the jaw, pelvis, upper arm and fractures to both sides of the collarbone, according to court records and prosecutors.

The head injury required "emergent neurosurgery" and raised red flags among a hospital team specializing in child abuse, according to an affidavit filed in court and signed by Marion Police Lt. Ed Brown.

The child's grandmother told the court Friday that the boy was scheduled to undergo another surgery this month and that he will require further surgery when he is 8 years old.

She asked the court for justice.

Todd Anderson, the attorney representing Brown, asked the court for a mid-range sentence and pointed to Brown's lack of criminal history, to her family support and to her upbringing of a 7-year-old daughter without any prior child protective services involvement.

"This is definitely out of character for Felicia," he said. "These cases are hard to explain. ... I don't know how these things happen but they happen too frequently, which tells you it's a crime where certain people snap, and I think this is that case where she lost her temper."

He also pointed to the pre-sentence investigation's findings that Brown was unlikely to reoffend.

Brown briefly spoke to say she took full responsibility and that she was "very, very sorry" for her actions.

Before delivering her sentence, Warner acknowledged that Brown was unlikely to commit the crime again and noted that she did not have a prior criminal record and has expressed genuine remorse.

But he found that the seriousness of Brown's crime took precedence.

"The age of the child absolutely is a factor that makes your conduct in this case more serious than conduct in other endangering children cases," Warner said, adding that the 21-month-old couldn't have defended himself.

Warner said he had reviewed photos of the boy's injuries and called them "shocking."

"The photos very apparently document both recent and what appear to be old injuries to the child that seem to indicate certainly abuse of the child," he said.

Brown was taken into custody Friday. She will receive three days of credit for jail time already served.

svolpenhei@gannett.com

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