Algoma woman convicted of child neglect in infant daughter's drowning in bathtub

KEWAUNEE - An Algoma woman whose 7-month-old daughter drowned after being left alone in a bathtub was convicted Thursday on a charge of child neglect resulting in death.

Cheyanne J. Wierichs, 24, pleaded no contest to the child neglect charge. She previously pleaded not guilty of the charge last April in a preliminary hearing.

Wierichs also pleaded no contest to a charge of operating while intoxicated, first offense. All other charges against her, which included possession of drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine, were dropped.

The girl died Feb. 9, 2021, at Wierichs' apartment in the 400 block of Fourth Avenue. Algoma Police Department officers responded to a call for an infant who had no pulse and was not breathing, and rescue attempts by an officer and Algoma Fire and Rescue personnel were unsuccessful.

Wierichs initially told officers she put her two children in a bath and went to do some work in the kitchen for a few minutes, finding the infant was drowning when she returned.

But, according to the complaint against Wierichs, she later changed her story and told investigators she watched some videos on YouTube while the children were in the bath, then left the bathroom for a few minutes to hook up her phone to a speaker. After listening to an entire song, she heard splashing from the bathroom and returned to find the drowning infant. The tub did not have an infant bath seat or baby tub.

A search warrant executed in the apartment turned up meth and related paraphernalia.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 18. Wierichs faces as much as 25 years in prison for the neglect conviction and was fined and had her driver's license revoked for the OWI.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-741-7952, 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Algoma woman convicted of child neglect in infant daughter's drowning in bathtub