A Kentucky woman who took drugs and fell asleep while her three-month-old drowned in the bathtub says she wants to visit his grave before her sentencing next month.
Amber Winstead, 36, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last Friday in connection with the New Year’s Day death of her son, Ki’Arri Rayne Winstead, according to court records cited by WHAS11.
Police were called to a Motel 6 on Airport Hotel Boulevard in Louisville around 4:30 a.m. on January 1. They arrived to find the baby had drowned in the tub. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities alleged that Winstead took narcotics that day before getting into the bathtub with her baby. She told investigators she fell asleep, and when she was woken up by someone hours later, the infant was submerged and unresponsive, according to WDRB.
At the Friday hearing, Winstead’s attorney Bryce Dean told the court that his client is nearing the end of a drug treatment program, and asked that she be placed on house arrest until sentencing.
"When Ms. Winstead was arrested on this case that was at her child's funeral,” Dean said, according to WLKY.
“She never attended her child's funeral. She was arrested in the parking lot. She would like to visit her child's grave. She would like to have just a little bit of closure before she goes to DOC.”
Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Trish Morris said she would consider the request.
“Let me take this under submission and see if I can’t figure out some way that we can get you closure because, like the Commonwealth, I have obvious empathy for you as well,” Morris said. “The situation is tragic all around.”
Winstead is scheduled to be sentenced on December 11. As part of her plea agreement, a persistent felony offender charge was dropped, WDRB noted. Prosecutors have requested a seven-year prison sentence, WHAS reported.
Ki’Arri’s obituary described him as a “little angel” whose “bubbly personality and infectious joy lit up every room he entered.”
“He was a precious bundle of happiness, always calm and content, bringing peace to those around him,” the obituary read. “He never cried, and his gentle, happy demeanor made him a perfect little guy who was loved deeply by his family.”
