A North Toledo woman who neglected her functionally impaired 18-year-old daughter has entered a plea to involuntary manslaughter in the younger woman’s death last year.

Shelly Gantka, 46, received a six-month jail sentence as part of five years’ probation after entering the Alford plea in Lucas County Common Pleas Court before Judge Lori Olender on Monday.

Gantka also is to spend six months in the Community Treatment Facility after her six months at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio in Stryker.

Officers sent to a home in the 3500 block of Chase Street on April 24, 2022, found Baili Cowell, 18, dead. The Lucas County Coroner’s Office ruled the death a homicide due to “neglect by caretaker.”

Miss Cowell was bedridden and could not care for herself, according to a document filed in Toledo Municipal Court, and Gantka failed to bathe her, give her enough water to prevent dehydration, take her to medical appointments, or move her enough to prevent sores and infections.

Ms. Gantka was arrested the following August.

If she fails to adhere to the terms of her probation, she could be sent to prison for four to six years.

A second indicted count, knowingly failing to provide for a functionally impaired person, was dismissed at Gantka’s sentencing.

First Published November 1, 2023, 9:07 p.m.