Colorado woman avoids prison in 1-year-old daughter’s death

A Colorado woman who pleaded guilty to negligent homicide for failing to get medical help for her young daughter’s head injury has been sentenced to three years in a halfway house.

Lauren Olivia Sierra was sentenced Friday for the death of Sophia Fundora last August at a motel in Fountain. Sierra has spent 320 days in custody since her arrest.

Investigators couldn’t prove who caused Sophia’s non-accidental head injuries because a man had watched the girl during the time she was injured.

Prosecutor Nathanial Marsh said what they could prove is that Sierra should have taken her daughter to the hospital. A coroner testified Sophia would have survived if she had been given medical care.

District Judge Marla Prudek indicated she didn’t believe Sierra injured her daughter.