Mom Faces 5-Year Probation After Feeding Infant Daughter With Kool-Aid, Watered Milk For Months

An Idaho-hailing mom faced five years of probation after admitting to starve her then eight-month-old daughter. Authorities said that if the infant had not been taken from her mother's custody, the baby could have died in a matter of days because of severe malnutrition.

Tiffany Knapp, 21, also faced 180 days of discretionary jail time for not providing adequate nutrition for her daughter. According to Idaho East News, Knapp was feeding her daughter Kool Aid and watered-down whole milk for months. Third District Judge Davis F. VanderVelde ordered Knapp to pay for the court costs as well.

Initially, VanderVelde ordered 10 years jail time for Knapp but defense attorney, Randy Grove, managed to appeal for a lighter sentence because Knapp was said to improve as a mother. Knapp reportedly took parenting classes for improvement after she pleaded guilty in March 2016.

The fact that Knapp also has the custody of her other child also helped Grove's case in lowering court's sentence, as it was an indication that she is a capable parent. The mom's gesture of pleading guilty was reported to have helped as well, as she recognized her own fault in taking care of her child.

On March 8, 2016, KTVB News reported that Knapp was arrested for felony injury to a child. According to court documents, the infant was stated to be "severely malnourished and underweight" when Child Protective Services took care of Knapp's child. The infant was then weighing only 11 pounds, severely lower than that of her healthy contemporaries, who weighed around 17 to 22 lbs.

Further, it was reported that the child was prematurely born and was brought to the hospital for immediate care at four months age. Pediatric doctor at the local hospital provided a specialized infant formula to help Knapp's daughter in gaining weight.

After being discharged from the hospital, however, Knapp admitted to skipping the pedia's prescription. After the authorities have taken care of the infant, luckily, the girl has gained weight as needed.