An Athens woman pleaded guilty last week in Athens County Common Pleas Court to involuntary manslaughter, child endangering and other charges related to the death of her infant daughter, and was sentenced Tuesday (Sept. 4) to 16 years in prison.
Christina Hazlett, 23, of Athens, pleaded guilty to a first-degree felony count of involuntary manslaughter; a second-degree felony count of complicity to endangering children; a third-degree felony count of endangering children; fifth-degree felony and first-degree misdemeanor counts of permitting drug abuse; and a first-degree misdemeanor count of domestic violence.
In accordance with a plea agreement with prosecutors, Hazlett was sentenced Tuesday to 16 years in prison by Athens County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Lang.
Hazlett and her boyfriend, Jerry Wayne Andresen, 21, both had initially faced the charges listed above, in addition to charges of murder, aggravated murder, felonious assault, and two misdemeanor counts of domestic violence. Those additional charges were dismissed against Hazlett as a part of the plea agreement.
As part of the plea arrangement, prosecutors agreed not to oppose Hazlett’s release from prison after Dec. 20, 2026, pending a favorable report from authorities and that she abide by the terms of the plea agreement.
In exchange, Hazlett agreed to testify against Andresen, who is listed as the “primary offender for the homicide of Ayla Hazlett” in the plea agreement. Ayla Hazlett was 3 months old at the time she died in mid-March 2018, allegedly due to “blunt-force trauma,” Athens County Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth Pepper previously said.
“Jerry Andresen and Christina Hazlett are accused of causing the death of Hazlett’s three (3) month old on March 12, 2018,” Prosecutor Keller Blackburn previously stated. “Andresen and Hazlett are further accused of not only allowing the trafficking of drugs in and out of their residence, in addition to using drugs themselves, but also causing physical harm, not only to each other, but to the infant in the days and weeks leading up to the death of the infant.”
Andresen is being held on a $500,000 bond with no 10 percent allowed. A jury trial is set for Oct. 15.