Background: A section of Congress Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana (Google Maps). Inset: Kristina Gensheimer (Marion County Jail).
A woman found guilty of neglecting her baby before the girl woke up limp on the floor of their Indiana bedroom will not spend much more time behind bars.
Kristina Gensheimer, 35, was sentenced to 910 days in prison — but with 760 days credited for time served and 110 days suspended. That means the Marion County court handed down a total of 40 days to the defendant.
She was convicted last month of Level 6 felony child neglect, a lesser charge than what she faced initially, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
On the morning of Aug. 25, 2024, emergency personnel and police were called to a home on Congress Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana, due to a report of an unresponsive infant. When they got there, they found Gensheimer's daughter — 4-month-old Emma — with "no signs of life," local Fox affiliate WXIN reported.
The child was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition. She was later pronounced dead.
Gensheimer reportedly told authorities that she had woken up on the floor of her bedroom to find her daughter facing the ceiling with a cold, limp body and purple lips. Police noted that the child had a soiled diaper when they got there.
But medical personnel did not see any external sign of injury other than a severe diaper rash, according to the local outlet. The child's autopsy determined that Emma died from "sudden unexplained death of an infant, with intrinsic and extrinsic factors" such as co-sleeping with her mother and falling from an adult-size bed.
For some time in the weeks before that fateful morning, Emma had apparently been sleeping in bed with her mother instead of in her bassinet. Gensheimer is said to have admitted that in the months leading up to her daughter's birth, she was using heroin, methamphetamine, and nicotine vapes "daily." The child had been born six weeks early — reportedly in withdrawal.
The mother was also asked to elaborate on what happened on the morning in question. According to authorities, she said she woke up at 6 a.m. and gave her child a bottle before herself taking GHB herself — otherwise known as "liquid ecstasy." She went back to sleep and woke up to the sight of her child on the floor.
Investigators said they spoke with individuals close to the mother in the days before Emma's death and learned that the child had a fever and was fussy. Gensheimer was ultimately arrested and handed the neglect charge.
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