Nampa woman who took drugs, submerged infant in ditch to be sentenced in March
Regina Dilworth of Nampa has pleaded guilty to two counts of injury to a child in Canyon County, one a felony and one a misdemeanor.
She will be sentenced on March 15 on both charges
In the felony case, Dilworth jumped into an irrigation ditch in August 2015 with her 9-month-old son, submerging him up to his neck, according to court documents. She later said she was trying to baptize the child.
Before she jumped into the ditch, a witness told police Dilworth tried to give her 4-year-old daughter to a stranger, saying she wanted to save the girl. That incident resulted in a misdemeanor charge.
A probable cause affidavit filed by Nampa police indicates her actions were based on delusion: She said she heard voices telling her that her children were possessed.
After passers-by pulled her from the South Nampa ditch and police safeguarded her children, Dilworth told police she had injected bath salts mixed with the prescription painkiller Dilaudid the night before.
In August, Dilworth’s mother Rosie Dilworth told the Statesman she knew Regina had a drug problem, but she had never seen or heard of any behavior that endangered Regina’s kids.
“I feel like the system has failed my daughter,” Rosie Dilworth said. “If she had a drug problem, they didn’t push the issue. They didn’t force her to go into rehab. They didn’t force her to get help.”
Regina Dilworth still has two pending drug-related charges in the Treasure Valley: a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charge in Canyon County and a felony drug possession charge in Ada County.
At least one of those cases may end up before a Canyon County drug court, but the Canyon County Prosecutor’s office is opposed to that idea, said county spokesman Joe Decker. The paraphernalia case is next scheduled for a pretrial hearing Jan. 19, and a status conference on the possession charge is set for Feb. 2.
This story was originally published January 11, 2016 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Nampa woman who took drugs, submerged infant in ditch to be sentenced in March."