Mom charged with child neglect in daughter’s death

MUNCIE – A woman failed to manage her 8-year-old daughter’s type 1 diabetes, leading to the child’s death, police said.

Amber Sky Bertram, 29, of Muncie was being held without bond Sunday in Delaware County Jail on a charge of neglect of a dependent causing death.
If convicted, she could face 20 to 50 years in prison.

Authorities said Kaitlyn Mae Borson, a second-grader at Grissom Memorial Elementary School, died Nov. 28 at Clarian North Medical Center in Carmel, where she had been taken two days earlier.

Muncie police Sgt. Linda Cook said the child’s death was “very much preventable.” She said Bertram didn’t correctly monitor her daughter’s blood sugar level and waited too long before seeking medical attention. After experiencing flu-like symptoms, the girl lapsed into a coma and died, Cook said.

Two other children were removed from Bertram’s house by child protection workers following the death.

The Hamilton County coroner was awaiting blood and tissue sample tests before ruling on the exact cause of death.

Cook said the state child protection agency had been involved with the family since February and had just closed the case at the end of October.