YORK, Pa. — Update, 3 p.m.: Leah Mullinix, the mother of 2-year-old Dante Mullinix, who died in 2018 from a traumatic brain injury, pled guilty to one count of child endangerment on Wednesday.
According to the York County Court of Common Pleas. Mullinix will be sentenced on April 20, 2023.
Previously: The mother of 2-year-old Dante Mullinix, Leah Mullinix, will appear in court for a status hearing after being charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Police say this charge is because she left her child with 43-year-old Tyree Bowie and did not seek proper medical treatment.
The status hearing will take place at the York County Judicial Center at 10 a.m. The hearing, along with the preliminary conference, was pushed back several times due to cancellations and delays.
Leah was charged in 2019 along with Bowie in 2018. In December 2022, Bowie was found not guilty on all charges relating to the case.
"There were people that don't even know me [who were] fighting for me, so it helped me from wanting to give up," said Bowie. "There were a lot of days I wanted to give up."
According to original reports, Bowie was interviewed by police on Sept. 7, 2018, and allegedly admitted he was the only one caring for Mullinix when he stopped breathing.
Surveillance video from a Rutter's gas station shows the two together around 8:45 p.m. that night, just before the child was taken to Hershey Medical Center. In that video, Mullinix is walking and appears to be healthy.
According to the coroner's office, the two-year-old died from a traumatic brain injury. He was also allegedly strangled and suffocated.
The status hearing will allow attorneys from both sides to present the court with progress on the case. The next step is up to the judge to decide whether there will be a guilty plea or if the case will go to trial.