Woman who killed daughter, neglected her for drugs sentenced to 15 years

TULALIP -- A Tulalip Tribes woman was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for neglecting her young daughter to the point of her death in late 2012.

Chritaina Carlson, 38, pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder and criminal mistreatment in the death of one daughter and the neglect of a second. She will serve 15 years in prison and 5 years of supervised release.

Court documents show Carlson was living in a car with her two young daughters, ages 33-months and 19-months, on the Tulalip Tribal Reservation. On Oct. 8, 2012, she left the two girls alone while she went to use a phone on the property, located on Marine Drive NE.

In her plea agreement, Carlson admitted she was away from her children for several hours attempting to buy drugs. About 20 minutes after her neighbors told her to check in on her children, Carlson returned to ask them to call 911, because her youngest was unresponsive.

Authorities said the child was malnourished, dehydrated and weighed only 19 pounds. Her skin around her diaper area was severely damaged and infested with maggots, court documents show. Her hair was also infested with lice.

According to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner the child died as the result of severe neglect.

The older daughter was found strapped in a car seat in a nearby vehicle. She was pale, unresponsive and covered in urine and feces. She was transported to the hospital but later recovered. She is now is foster care.

U.S. District Judge James L. Robart called the case a disgusting example of horrible parenting.

"The details of the murder and mistreatment are nauseating," Robart said. "She knew she needed to care for her children and she chose not to."

The case was investigated by the Tulalip Tribal Police and the FBI.