Ann McGowan was sentenced to prison for up to five years on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her newborn daughter, Katrina.

On July 21, 2001, McGowan, 35, strangled her newborn with a pair of pantyhose and abandoned the baby in a garbage bag in her backyard after giving birth at her Ames home, 1118 N. Third St.

McGowan was brought to trial on charges of first degree murder, punishable by life imprisonment without parole, on May 19.

During the trial, the defense argued McGowan had lost 50 percent of her blood during the birth, likely a result of placental abruption, causing her to experience a confused mental state as well as reducing the amount of oxygen to the fetus, resulting in the baby’s death.

Jeff Condon, McGowan’s fianc‚, testified McGowan was constantly contradicting herself the day of the incident and acting very different than usual.

A plea bargain was agreed upon following the testimony of Janice Ophoven, a defense expert witness, arguing the baby was stillborn and already deceased when McGowan placed the ligature around its neck.

Upon review of the autopsy report, Ophoven, a pediatric forensic pathologist, noted degenerate changes in the baby’s brain, including brain swelling, due to a lack of oxygen.

Ophoven testified the brain degeneration of McGowan’s baby was indeed due to a lack of oxygen, but not from strangulation. The extent of degeneration present could only happen following a period of several hours. She concluded the baby was deceased before strangulation took place.

Julia Goodin, the state medical examiner who performed the autopsy, testified on behalf of the state that she was not aware McGowan had lost an excess of blood while giving birth, and therefore concluded the baby died from strangulation.

Detective David Konopa of the Ames Police Department said McGowan told him 31 times throughout the hospital interview taken on the early morning of July 22 that she never thought the baby was alive.

She also testified she never knew she was pregnant, and she and her fianc‚ were not financially ready for the responsibilities of having a child.

On the fifth day of the trial, McGowan pleaded guilty to the reduced charges of involuntary manslaughter, punishable of up to five years imprisonment.

By pleading guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter, a Class D felony punishable of up to 5 years imprisonment, McGowan accepted she unintentionally caused the death of her daughter and recklessly committed the crime of assault.

While McGowan requested a sentence of probation, the state requested the sentence of five years imprisonment.

McGowan began serving her sentence at Oakdale Medical and Classification Center where she has began physical tests and tests to determine where the best placement in the prison for her will be.

Of the population released from Iowa prisons in 2002, those sentenced to no more than five years served an average of 464 days in prison, or just over fifteen months, according to the Iowa Board of Parole Web site, http://www.bop.state.ia.us/2002 Report.pdf.

If McGowan serves the average sentence, with 269 days of incarceration toward this offense previously, she will serve 195 days, or about six and a half months in prison.