Woman reaches plea deal in daughter's death

Dateline: Vermont

A Shelburne woman accused of killing her daughter has reached an agreement with prosecutors that will find her guilty.

Laura Higginbotham, 34, is accused of inflicting head injuries that killed her daughter Logan, age 3, in 1998.

Autopsy findings were inconclusive. Higginbotham was not charged until three years ago after police reopened the investigation.

Higginbotham had claimed that the child fell out of bed, but four months ago she agreed to plead no contest to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

A judge has accepted a deal that calls for Higginbotham to spend one year in prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

From staff reports