NEVADA — Ann McGowan was sentenced to prison Friday for an indeterminate time not to exceed five years on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her newborn daughter.

“You pled guilty to a reckless act, and there is a dead baby,” Judge Michael Moon said during sentencing. “That is not my opinion of grounds to allow probation.”

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. 3rd St.

McGowan was brought to trial on charges of first-degree murder, punishable by life imprisonment without parole on May 19. A plea bargain was agreed upon following the testimony of a defense witness arguing the baby was stillborn and already deceased when McGowan placed the ligature around its neck.

On May 23, McGowan pled guilty to the reduced charges of involuntary manslaughter, punishable of up to five years imprisonment. While McGowan requested a sentence of probation, the state requested the sentence of five years imprisonment.

During the final arguments to the judge, with her lawyers sitting at her side, McGowan verbally accepted responsibility for her actions and offered a five minute statement in a final plea for a sentence of probation.

“I am a productive member of society,” she said. “I have never been in trouble with the law.”

McGowan also described the 269 days she has already experienced in prison for this offense as the “hardest and darkest days” of her life.

She said everything that has happened over the past two years has been punishment enough to warrant a sentence of probation.

“I was ripped up in the papers; I was ripped up emotionally,” she said.

“I spent the entire time thinking about what I had done.”

The name of her daughter, Katrina, was also revealed for the first time during court proceedings.

William Kutmus, McGowan’s attorney, stressed to Moon the fact that both sides agreed the case to be involuntary manslaughter.

“Involuntary manslaughter means unintentional death,” Kutmus said.

“In this particular case, the death of this baby was unintentional.”

During the trial, the defense argued McGowan had lost 50 percent of her blood 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.

“There is no other explanation for the death of this child other than the mental deficit of Ann McGowan [at the time of the incident],” Kutmus said.

Kutmus asked the judge to consider the punishment McGowan has already faced, including living with the knowledge she caused the unintentional death of her child, the addition of a felony forever branded to her name, and the time which she has already spent in jail.

Mark Pennington, McGowan’s attorney, argued the typical sentencing of up to five years imprisonment for involuntary manslaughter should not apply to this case.

“Most people choose to put themselves in that position [by the decisions they make],” he said, noting murders caused by drunk driving or a drug-induced state. “She didn’t make the decision to bleed. It was thrust upon her.”

“She admitted to killing her child,” said Danielle Davis, assistant Story County attorney.

McGowan will begin serving her sentence at Oakdale Medical and Classification Center where she will undergo physical tests and tests to determine where the best placement in the prison for her will be, said Steven Holmes, Story County attorney.

This process usually takes six months, he said.

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