VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Commonwealth's Attorney for Virginia Beach, Colin Stolle, announced Tuesday that Karista Bohren was sentenced to 16 years in prison with six suspended after her baby died with meth in her system.
Bohren was charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse and neglect. Her husband, Skip Bohren, who is not the infant's biological father, was sentenced in May for involuntary manslaughter and will serve 10 years in prison.
The Commonwealth's Attorney says had this matter gone to trial, their evidence would have proven that on Sept. 5, 2021, police responded to an apartment in the 5000 block of Stedwick Court to investigate the death of Karista Bohren's infant, who was just over a month old.
The couple used methamphetamine during Karista's pregnancy and after the birth of her daughter, and took the infant with them to pick up drugs, according to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
Karista Bohren also admitted to using heroin after her daughter's birth, and admitted to investigators that she had planned to "get high" as soon as she was released from the hospital with her daughter, said the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
The infant was fussy in the days before her death and was crying more than normal on the night before she died, and according to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, the couple brought the infant with them to collect Lime scooters to recharge, then returned to the apartment around 3 a.m. and Skip Bohren laid the infant between himself and Karista on a mattress on the floor.
The office says Karista admitted to knowing the dangers of sleeping with an infant in the same bed.
Karista woke up at 7:30 a.m. and screamed after she noticed a small amount of blood around the infant's mouth and her arm in an upward position, said to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
A roommate then called 911 while Skip Bohren attempted CPR, but the infant was dead, according to the office.
An autopsy listed the cause of death as Sudden Unexpected Infant Death associated with methamphetamine and amphetamine intoxication and unsafe sleep.
The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office says when investigators asked Karista how she believed her daughter could have ingested methampetamine, she suggested it "could have happened from crumbs left in or on her shirt, inadvertently from breast milk that leaked, residue on her fingers, or even from her blood."
She also said someone could have mistakenly used a water bottle she used to mix methamphetamine, or from methamphetamine Skip left on the table, in the bathroom, or on his clothes, according to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
Karista and Skip both have prior convictions in North Carolina, and Skip has one prior conviction in the city of Virginia Beach.
Stay with News 3 for updates.
