Background: News footage of Lily Scheip during her sentencing on Dec. 29 (WWSB). Inset: Dominic Scheip (Dignity Memorial).
A Florida woman who was found responsible for the death of her 14-week-old son was sentenced to prison.
Lily Scheip, 35, was convicted of manslaughter in August in connection with the death of her baby son Dominic. She was originally charged with second-degree murder when it was discovered during an autopsy that Dominic died of "serious head trauma" and his death was ruled a homicide. On Monday, Scheip was sentenced to 10 years in prison with credit for time served. She has been behind bars since her arrest in March 2022.
According to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, police responded to the home of Scheip's neighbor in Sarasota, Florida, on the night of Nov. 8, 2021. The neighbor called 911 after seeing Scheip run out of her own home carrying Dominic in her arms. She brought the baby to another neighbor, who worked as a nurse, so she could perform CPR.
Paramedics arrived at the neighbor's house, where they performed resuscitative measures on the "unresponsive" baby. Dominic was taken to the hospital, where he was placed on life support. Doctors said he showed signs of head trauma and no brain activity. He died on Nov. 11, 2021. While no visible injuries were observed before Dominic's death, an autopsy revealed bruising on his head, a previous skull fracture, and a brain bleed. Medical staff at the hospital determined that based on Dominic's injuries, Scheip was "the only person who could have delivered the blunt force impacts" that led to the baby's death.
Police said in the affidavit that on the day Dominic was hospitalized, Scheip's husband was away from the home for most of the day while Scheip was alone with the baby and the couple's older son. Scheip said she tried to feed Dominic a bottle at 9 p.m., but he would not take it and "appeared drowsy." She put Dominic down in his bassinet and went to watch television with her older son for about 20 minutes. When she returned to check on Dominic, he was unresponsive.
In the affidavit, police said Scheip admitted to an incident in September 2021 when she dropped Dominic from a recliner while burping him. Police learned that Dominic had suffered a "series of injuries" since his birth in August 2021. She had no explanations for his other injuries.
Before Scheip's trial began, her attorneys were able to get the charge of second-degree murder reduced to manslaughter after proving that there was no malicious intent. She was found guilty of manslaughter on Aug. 15. A judge sentenced her to 10 years in prison plus four years probation. With credit for time served, she will only have to spend another five years behind bars.
At her sentencing on Monday, Scheip's parents defended their daughter. Her mother told the court, "I can't imagine, in my wildest imagination, her hurting my grandson intentionally."
Scheip's in-laws, however, felt differently and requested the maximum sentence of 15 years. Her brother-in-law told the court, "Dominic's death has cast a permanent shadow over our family. And it has aged my parents before my eyes."
The prosecuting attorney, assistant state attorney Karen Fraivillig, felt the same way. She told local ABC affiliate WWSB, "Ten years is not enough. Nevertheless, I understand the judge's rationale."
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