Law expert explains charges in Lacy Carr death

A law expert spoke with News 12 to explain why a Croton mother isn't facing stiffer charges in the death of her 6-year-old daughter. As News 12 previously reported, Kathleen Dymes was discovered on

News 12 Staff

Sep 18, 2015, 3:37 AM

Updated 3,331 days ago

Share:

A law expert spoke with News 12 to explain why a Croton mother isn't facing stiffer charges in the death of her 6-year-old daughter.
As News 12 previously reported, Kathleen Dymes was discovered on Easter Sunday unconscious on the floor of a locked bedroom in her home following an apparent suicide attempt. Dymes' daughter Lacey Carr was found beside her, dead in her bed.
Investigators found two written notes, heroin, liquor, a chef's knife and bottles of prescription painkillers in the room. Blood tests revealed a fatal dose of two prescription painkillers and Benadryl were in Carr's system.
Pace law professor Bennet Gershman says he doesn't see any evidence that shows Dymes forced her daughter to take the pills. He says that's why prosecutors aren't seeking murder charges against Dymes. In addition, Gershman says that there is a reasonable inference that the child took the pills herself.
Right now, Dymes is only facing charges that would carry a maximum of four years in prison.
Gershman says prosecutors will likely consider Dymes' expertise as a former nurse and whether she should have had the prescription drugs laying around posing a risk to her daughter.
Dymes is currently out on $25,000 bail.