Mary Gene Markley

Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Michael Reed handed down a suspended sentence for a Fort Wayne mother who pleaded guilty to withholding insulin from her diabetic child.

Kosciusko County Prosecutor Dan Hampton initially filed a Class C felony charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury against Mary Gene Markley, 27. She was arrested in June, two months after her young son was taken to Lutheran Hospital in critical condition. Markley was accused of withholding insulin from the child. (See story)

Under a plea agreement, Markley pleaded guilty to a lesser Class D offense of neglect of a dependent. She was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, but the sentence was suspended. Markley will serve the term on probation.