Nampa mother who submerged baby in ditch gets 2 to 10 years

Regina Dilworth, 23, was arrested by Nampa police in August 2015 after she reportedly tried to "baptize" her infant son in a ditch near her home and tried to give her 4-year-old daughter to a passerby.

She entered a guilty plea to felony injury to a child earlier this year and on Thursday was sentenced to at least two, and up to 10, years in prison. Third District Judge Christopher Nye also gave her two to eight years for grand theft. The sentences will run concurrently.

Dilworth told police she was under the influence of bath salts and a prescription painkiller when she began “walking toward the light” with her children. She said she heard voices telling her that her children were possessed. Bystanders reportedly found her submerged in a ditch with her 9-month-old son, who was submerged up to his neck.

"A person that puts their child in a ditch is a lunatic," Judge Nye told Dilworth during the sentencing hearing. "You put your kids in jeopardy.”

This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 9:13 PM with the headline "Nampa mother who submerged baby in ditch gets 2 to 10 years."