Bucks Co. Woman Pleads Guilty In Infant's Death

UPPER SOUTHAMPTON, PA — A Bucks County woman has pleaded guilty in a case involving an infant who died at her unlicensed daycare facility.

Lauren Landgrebe, 50, pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter related to the 2019 death of an infant, who died from asphyxiation by strangulation after being placed incorrectly in a car seat and left unattended for about two hours.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Landgrebe was originally facing 36 years in prison. Over the weekend, prosecutors negotiated with Landgrebe’s attorney, Louis Busico, and were able to secure a plea deal, which asked for a sentence of one day less than a year to one day less than two years in county jail, followed by 10 years probation.

Landgrebe had operated an illegal daycare out of her home on Rosebud Road, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. She told authorities that she provided care for up to eight children at a time, a Sept. 4 cease and desist letter from that agency said.

On Aug. 27, 2019, officers from Upper Southampton Township arrived at Landgrebe's home on Rosebud Road after receiving a call. Victoria Watson, an 11-month-old Warrington baby, was found unresponsive and cold in a car seat that was left on Landgrebe's kitchen table.

Watson was taken to Abington Hospital by the Tri-Hampton Rescue Squad, where she was pronounced dead later that day.

Detectives determined that Landgrebe had put the baby in the car seat at 1 p.m. that day for a nap. Landgrebe gave the baby a bottle at 2 p.m, propping it up on a rolled hand towel; she left the room and went out to her backyard swimming pool, where she spent the next two hours outside, the case's affidavit said.

She did not return to check on the child until 4 p.m. after she was unconscious, the affidavit said.

Detectives obtained a Snapchat photo that Landgrebe took of the napping baby sometime after 2 p.m. The photo showed the child "slumped low" in the car seat with the chest strap around her neck. The car seat's leg straps were not engaged, the affidavit said. Detectives determined that she deleted this picture after she found the infant unresponsive.

Landgrebe's husband arrived home around 4 p.m. and noticed that the infant had a liquid coming out of her mouth. He administered CPR to Watson while waiting for paramedics to arrive.

During the investigation, detectives found Landgrebe had been collecting Social Security Disability payments for about 10 years. She had claimed in filings that she was unable to work, yet she did not report any income from the daycare business, officials said.

The sentencing for this case was deferred by Bucks County President Judge Wallace H. Bateman; sentencing will take place sometime next month.