Woman pleads guilty to criminally negligent homicide in mother’s death, Jackson County prosecutors say

MEDFORD, Ore. – A woman accused of contributing to the death of her mother was sentenced Friday.

The Jackson County District Attorney’s Office said last March, Christine Lerae Chase was caring for her mother, Christine Larae Powell.

Prosecutors said Powell, who was on hospice care, was coughing up blood and in a great deal of pain when Chase caused her to suffocate.

The homicide came to the attention of police eight months later after a family member who was present at the time of death came forward.

Powell’s family worked with prosecutors to work out a plea deal, which Chase agreed to.

The D.A.’s office said on March 4, Chase entered a plea of criminally negligent homicide.

The court accepted the plea and sentenced chase to supervised probation on the felony conviction. The parties reportedly agreed this would best serve the interests of justice, rather than a prison sentence.

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