Woman convicted in mom's death wins release
Douglas WalkerMUNCIE, Ind. – A Muncie woman serving a prison term stemming from her mother’s overdose death is coming home.
Amanda Kay Pratt, now 33, pleaded guilty in December 2015 to reckless homicide. She was later sentenced to four years in prison by Delaware Circuit Court 1 Judge Marianne Vorhees.
Authorities said Pratt had injected 54-year-old Penny Kerr with a prescription pain-killer shortly before she died on Feb. 7, 2015.
Pratt and Kerr’s husband said the older woman had become addicted to street drugs in a bid to cope with chronic pain.
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Pratt – who also has battled addiction – returned to Vorhees’ courtroom Thursday and said being sent to prison “saved me.”
While incarcerated, the Muncie woman completed an extensive treatment program for substance abusers.
When she entered prison, Pratt told the judge, “I didn’t want to live at all, I had given up on life. ... I didn’t think I was worth anything.”
The treatment program helped restore her confidence and self-esteem, she said.
Vorhees agreed to suspend the remainder of Pratt’s sentence, and ruled she would be on probation through Feb. 24, 2018 – the day she otherwise would have been released from prison.
Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. Follow him on Twitter: @DouglasWalkerSP.