N.C. Toddler Freezes to Death on Porch as Mom Slept Inside with Drugs in Her System

A North Carolina woman whose 3-year-old son froze to death on their porch earlier this year pleaded guilty on Monday to an involuntary manslaughter charge, PEOPLE confirms.

Jamie Basinger was unconscious, with drugs in her system, as her son, Landyn, was dying outside her home in March, according to a Burke County court official.

Following her plea this week, Basinger was sentenced to 19 and 32 months in prison as well as three years’ probation, with credit for 245 days already served, according to WSCOC-TV and the Morganton News Herald.  Basinger’s attorney, Frank Webster, tells PEOPLE she will only serve her remaining months in prison if she violates her probation, meaning her release from behind bars is imminent.

Basinger was also originally charged with felony child abuse in Landyn’s death, but prosecutors dropped that count as part of a plea deal, according to Webster and the News Herald.

Basinger was arrested in April after Landyn was found on March 15 having frozen to death on the porch of his home in Morgangton, a Burke County court official tells PEOPLE. The boy had celebrated his third birthday the day before, the clerk says.

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WSOC-TV reports that Basinger told deputies she last saw Landyn when she put him to bed at 10:30 p.m. on March 14. Authorities believe that Landyn then walked out of the house and then tried unsuccessfully to get back in, but Basinger was asleep and did not hear his cries.

Temperatures that night were in the 20s with a wind chill as low as 4 degrees, the court official says.

Basinger tested positive for several illegal substances including methamphetamine and marijuana, the court clerk says.

“She didn’t hear him. She didn’t hear him leave the room. Didn’t hear him leave the house. Didn’t hear him banging on the door. She was asleep while he was freezing to death,” Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lippert said, WSOC-TV reports.

Basinger fought back tears as prosecutors read details of Landyn’s death at her sentencing, WSOC-TV reports.

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In a statement to PEOPLE, Webster wrote, “ has not done well at all since Landyn’s death,” and called the boy’s death a “tragic accident.”