Ohio Nurse Gets 10 Years In 14-Year-Old’s Malnutrition Death

An Ohio nurse was sentenced to the maximum of 10 years in prison for the malnutrition death of a 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy.

Forty-two-year-old Mollie Parsons pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, failing to provide for a functionally impaired child, and tampering with records in the 2011 death of Makayla Norman.

Parsons did not get leniency as the plea was not part of an agreement with prosecutors. She was facing as little as three years in prison.

Parsons was supposed to administer care to Norman six days a week at her Dayton home. But the teenager had several bedsores and was living in squalid conditions when she died from medical and nutritional neglect that had been complicated by cerebral palsy. A coroner said Norman was the “worst malnourished child” his office had ever seen. She was 28 pounds when she died.

Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck said, “She basically starved to death. It’s one of these cases that cries out for justice.”

Heck believed Parsons pleaded guilty to avoid having more details about Norman’s death come out at trial.

Makayla Norman’s mother, Angela Norman, is serving a nine-year sentence stemming from her daughter’s death. Two other nurses, Mary Kilby and Kathryn Williams, were sentenced to up to five years of probation last month.

Williams was supposed to supervise Parsons and inspect Norman’s living conditions. She was also supposed to perform a physical assessment of the teenager every 30 to 60 days. Kilby was scheduled to visit every six months to check on Norman’s home conditions and assess her health, care, and needs.