Former LeClaire home daycare provider pleads guilty to lesser charge in infant’s death

SCOTT Co., Iowa (KWQC) - A former LeClaire in-home daycare provider pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection with the February 2020 death of an infant in her care.

Scott County Court records show Angela Regina Marxen, 57, pleaded guilty to child endangerment resulting in serious injury, a Class C felony punishable by 10 years in prison.

According to a written plea agreement filed Tuesday, the charge is a forcible felony and prison time is mandatory.

She also will be responsible for paying at least $150,000 to the parents of the child, according to the plea agreement.

Prosecutors will dismiss charges of first-degree murder and child endangerment when she is sentenced Dec. 1.

Marxen, who was free on bond, will be held in the Scott County Jail pending sentencing.

Around 3:15 p.m. on Feb. 5, 2020, LeClaire police were dispatched to an in-home daycare on Frontier Court for an infant in distress.

First responders discovered a 5-month-old girl, who appeared to be unresponsive with labored breathing, police said in a media release. She was transported to a local hospital, where her condition continued to worsen.

According to the release, the baby was then airlifted to Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City, where doctors discovered that she had a fractured skull and a brain bleed.

She died four days later at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. An autopsy determined the cause of the baby’s death was blunt force injuries to the head.

Marxen ran the daycare and was the caretaker for the baby.

According to an arrest affidavit, she said she dropped the baby while she was carrying her and that 911 was not notified until four hours after the fall and 45 minutes after Marxen admitted she knew the child wasn’t acting correctly.

Medical professionals stated the injuries were not the result of an accidental fall, according to the affidavit.