Neglectful Mom Receives Sentence After 12-Year-Old Daughter’s Untreated Diabetes Tragedy

In a tragic case from Indiana, a 40-year-old mother has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term for the death of her 12-year-old daughter, whom she failed to help manage her diabetes. Ashley Marie Bredhold will serve 30 years in a state correctional facility, as decided by Vanderburgh Circuit Judge Ryan D. Hatfield.

This sentencing follows a jury’s February conviction of Bredhold on the charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. The case has drawn significant attention, highlighting the severe consequences of neglecting essential medical care for a dependent child.

In a related development last year, Alice’s father, Brent Bredhold, was convicted of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury. Judge Hatfield sentenced him to nine years in a state correctional facility, underscoring the legal repercussions faced by both parents in this tragic situation.

Vanderburgh County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Winston Lin expressed the deep sorrow surrounding this case, stating, “This is a heartbreaking case where a 12-year-old girl with Type 1 diabetes was left to fend for herself until her untimely death. Her parents should have been her strongest advocates to keep her healthy and alive, but unfortunately all they had to offer was apathy, indifference, and neglect.”

“This is a heartbreaking case where a 12-year-old girl with Type 1 diabetes was left to fend for herself until her untimely death,” Vanderburgh County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Winston Lin previously said of the case. “Her parents should have been her strongest advocates to keep her healthy and alive, but unfortunately all they had to offer was apathy, indifference, and neglect.”

Police and emergency medical personnel on July 4, 2024, responded to a 911 call regarding an unresponsive 12-year-old at the Bredhold home in the 500 block of South New York Avenue in Evansville, Indiana, according to a previous news release from the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office. First responders found Alice lying on the floor of her bedroom. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the Vanderburgh County Coroner, Alice died from diabetic ketosis — a serious condition which, according to the Mayo Clinic, manifests numerous telltale symptoms.

Alice was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in March 2020. Typically, children with the disease live “long, mostly normal lives,” prosecutors said, but Alice was dead within four years of her diagnosis.

Evidence revealed during the parents’ trials showed that Alice’s diabetes was poorly handled — and sometimes outright ignored — from the start.

For example, prior to her death, the Indiana Department of Child Services contacted Alice’s parents because her blood sugar levels frequently tested in an exceedingly high range while she was at school. In the state’s opening statement against Brent Bredhold, prosecutors cited a school nurse who reported 44 readings in excess of 300 and 14 readings above 600 in the weeks leading up to her death.

Blood sugar levels less than 180 two hours after starting a meal are considered typical targets for people living with diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Witness testimony and cellphone data from Ashley Bredhold’s trial showed that in the days before Alice died, her parents knew her medication delivery system was not working but failed to get replacements, local ABC affiliate WEHT reported.

When the child complained that drinking water “felt like drinking acid,” Ashley Bredhold reportedly responded by telling Alice to “drink more water.”

“Parental responsibility is not a 9-to-5 job, to clock in or clock out when convenient,” Lin said. “That said, this was an extreme case where Alice was not properly supervised for years, and the long-term neglect placed her in a precarious situation that cut her life short. Of the hundreds of Type 1 diabetic kids under the age of 18 seen by her pediatric endocrinologist, she was the only one to have died directly due to her diabetes.”