Lexington mother pleads guilty but mentally ill in death of infant child

A Lexington mother has pleaded guilty but mentally ill in the death of her 9-month-old son.

Sammantha M. Moore, 33, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to second-degree manslaughter, according to court records. She had originally been charged with murder but the charge was reduced as part of a plea agreement. She also pleaded guilty to third-degree assault on a corrections officer.

She faces a sentence of 10 years for the manslaughter charge and one year for the assault charge, according to court documents. But a judge could decide to grant her probation so that she can attend a treatment program.

A judge will determine whether to send Moore to prison, to give her probation and allow her to go back to the treatment program, or to send her to prison upon completion of the mental health program.

Moore is scheduled to be sentenced in December. Until that time, she is receiving treatment at Recovery Plus for Women, a monitored treatment and transitional housing facility for women who suffer from co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, which was recommended by her defense attorney.

Moore was allowed to be transferred to the center on Monday, according to court documents.

Moore originally faced a life sentence for the death of her infant son, and admitted to investigators that she intentionally killed the boy by covering him with blankets and clothes, according to prior court testimony.

Moore told investigators that she’d killed her son because she felt someone was hurting him, and that if she killed him, no one would be able to hurt him anymore, according to testimony from Lexington police Detective Paul Hogan in a prior court hearing.

Moore told police that at about 2:15 a.m. on Dec. 23, 2020, she put blankets and clothing on top of her son, as well as a kitchen bar stool to prevent him from getting free, according to court testimony. She then went to bed in her Centre Parkway apartment.

Moore checked on her son the next morning, saw that he was dead and then called police. Moore’s son, Ocean Moore, was 9 months and 18 days old, according to the Fayette County Coroner’s Office. The boy died of suffocation.

Moore received a mental health evaluation from the state, and was found to be “competent but not criminally responsible” at the time the offense occurred. This means at the time of the baby’s death, Moore was deemed not fit to understand the criminality of conduct due to her mental health, according to Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Amanda Naish.

Baird said that Moore’s plea of guilty but mentally ill will allow for Moore to receive mental health treatment while incarcerated if she is sent to prison.

Moore’s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 2 at 8:30 a.m.