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Northern IN man gets 65 years for toddler’s beating death

PLYMOUTH, Ind. (AP) – A northern Indiana man has been sentenced to 65 years in prison for the beating death of a toddler after she wet the bed.

Twenty-four-year-old Shane Weedling of Plymouth had pleaded guilty last month to the murder of 2-year-old Serenity Wilson under an agreement in which prosecutors dismissed neglect and marijuana possession charges.

An autopsy shows the toddler died of blows to her head before she died Sept. 19, 2015, at a Fort Wayne hospital. Weedling had been dating the girl’s mother, Krysti Lavanway.

Lavanway pleaded guilty in December to neglect of a dependent and is appealing her 35-year sentence. Records indicate she didn’t call police for at least three hours after finding Serenity bloodied and unconscious inside a Plymouth motel.