Gastonia mother stops jury selection, pleads guilty to death of daughter

GASTONIA, N.C. — A Gastonia mother interrupted her trial Tuesday and pleaded guilty in the death of her 9-month-old daughter.

The prosecution had already approved 12 jurors in Phoebe Pieper’s trial. The defense team was supposed to go into court Tuesday and vet those jurors, but Pieper decided to plead guilty.

Pieper faced a second-degree murder charge in her daughter Layla’s death two years ago. Police said she left the child in the bathtub, walked away and returned to find the child face down in the tub.

Officers said she waited 20 minutes to call 911.

“She didn’t go underneath. She was not submerged, but she just passed out right in my hands. I had her head in my hands. She just passed out,” said Pieper in a 911 call.

The medical examiner ruled that Layla drowned.

“The defendant was high on various drugs… at the time,” said prosecutor David Frandceschelli.

Pieper’s husband told Channel 9’s Ken Lemon that it was all an accident and said there is no justice in her prosecution.

Pieper has two young children, one conceived while she was out on bond waiting for trial.

“I want to do what’s best for my kids,” Pieper said.

If a jury had convicted Pieper, she could have faced more than a decade in prison. But the plea gave her a two-and-a-half year sentence for involuntary manslaughter and felony child abuse.

When Pieper finishes her sentence, social workers will decide how much access she has to her two children.

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