A Kemmerer woman has been sentenced to two years probation following drug charges that appeared shortly after the death of her 5-year-old daughter. Kayla Kartchner, 27, of Kemmerer received the ruling from Judge Blumel on April 5 after reaching a plea agreement with the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors agreed to drop one of two felony marijuana charges and a misdemeanor methamphetamine charge. Kartchner would receive an 18-36 month jail sentence if she violates her probation.

Kartchner and her boyfriend, Jason Geick, were both arrested in early January, just a few weeks after her 5-year-0ld daughter was found unresponsive at her babysitters home. The child passed away due to physical abuse, according to medical examiners. The babysitter, Cheri Marler, 51, of Kemmerer, was taken into custody and charged with First Degree Murder and two counts of Child Abuse. Marler pleaded not guilty to the charges on January 9. Marler faces life in prison if convicted of the murder charges. The Lincoln County Attorney’s Office has decided to not seek the death penalty. The child abuse charges are publishable by up to 10 years in prison for each count.

Investigators say that Kartchner had left the young girl and her sibling in Marler’s care for a couple of months, during which time it appears the abuse had been ongoing.