TRENTON – It’s been almost two years since Amira Chambers’ infant daughter was found dead in her playpen, stuck between bags of clothing and the side of the structure.
Now, Chambers, who has admitted fault in the death and has taken multiple parenting classes in the years since, says she is ready to be a better mother.
The 21-year-old mother of two was sentenced to serve three years of probation Friday after pleading guilty to child endangerment for the incident in July 2015.
Authorities arrived at the home of Chambers and her then-boyfriend, Michael Craig, 22, around 5 a.m. for a call about an 8-month-old girl who wasn’t breathing. They found the baby in the playpen along with bags of clothing, covered by a pad that was normally on the bottom of the structure. According to Mercer County prosecutors, the child had gotten stuck among the items at some point in the night.
Chambers and Craig were both charged with child endangerment for the death. Craig has since been admitted into a pre-trial intervention program.
But during Chambers’ court appearance Friday, her attorney, Jamie Hubert, argued that the father was more responsible for the death, saying that Craig was the one who had put the bags of clothing into the playpen. Hubert claimed Chambers was concerned about the baby sleeping among the clothing so Craig climbed into the playpen to show her that it was safe.
The fact that Craig had been trained as an EMT helped ease Chambers’ concerns, Hubert said.
Mother sentenced for child endangerment
“She was 19, overwhelmed, a mother of twins and had just moved out of her mother’s house,” Hubert said, referring to Chambers’ other two children, who are alive.
Chambers, who is currently pregnant with her fourth child, has spent the past year and a half since her daughter’s death working to better herself as a mother, Hubert argued. She has attended multiple parenting classes and is working to get her GED.
Numerous family members and friends turned up for support Friday, hugging each other and crying when attorneys discussed the child’s death.
“She’s loveable, she’s responsible. She made a bad call,” Chambers’ aunt, Theresa Chambers told Superior Court Judge Thomas Brown Friday. “A lot of people that I see go to jail, they come out and they’re worse.”
Judge Brown issued the sentence Friday, saying that a similar incident is unlikely to occur again and citing Chambers’ efforts to learn how to be a better mother.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman
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