A Department of Children and Families
employee, charged in connection with the death of a baby left in a hot
car, faced a judge Wednesday.
Shani Smith was a
case worker making sure kids were kept safe. She accepted a plea deal
in criminal court and pleaded guilty on six charges of official
misconduct.
The
judge gave Smith five years of probation for falsifying documents where
a child suffocated to death in a hot car. Before her guilty plea, Smith
insisted she was not at fault.
"What I regret is that this baby died, that's the regret that I have. But I did nothing wrong," Smith said.
As
a DCF investigator, Smith supervised the case of 11-month-old Bryan
Osceola and his mother Catalina Bruno. Before the child's death, Bruno
was charged with a DUI when she passed out with her son in the car.
According to
detectives, Smith didn't think Bruno posed a danger to her son and lied
about referring her to a substance abuse program.
Six
months later, the child died when his body temperature reached almost
110 degrees in his mother's car. Bruno later pleaded guilty to
aggravated manslaughter.
If Smith violates
her probation, she faces 30 years behind bars. If she successfully
completes her probation, she won't be a convicted felon but her record
will still exist.
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Former-DCF-Employee-Accepts-Plea-Deal-in-Falsifying-Records-Case-366742741.html
