VALPARAISO, Ind. — The mother of a 2-year-old northwestern Indiana girl who died after accidentally shooting herself with a gun she found at home would avoid additional jail time under a proposed plea deal with prosecutors.
Abigail Rodriguez, 29, of Portage would plead guilty to a reduced count of neglect of a dependent and receive a suspended sentence of three years on probation except for time already served, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported Thursday.
Porter Superior Court Judge Mike Fish took the proposed plea agreement under consideration and will decide May 12 whether to accept it, records show.
Hours after shooting herself on Feb. 7, Grace Rodriguez died at Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago.
Abigail Rodriguez told police she and her daughter were in the girl's bedroom when Grace wandered into her mother's room and shot herself with a 9 mm handgun, a Portage police officer wrote in an affidavit.
The woman said she rushed into her bedroom and saw Grace on the floor, wounded, the affidavit said.
She said she keeps the weapon in the kitchen during the day and on a nightstand next to her bed at night, the affidavit said. But on the day in question, she said she forgot to bring the gun into the kitchen.
