CARRINGTON – Patricia Wick, 48, Carrington, entered a not guilty plea to each of three charges during an appearance in Southeast District court Tuesday.
Wick was charged on January 30, 2023, with murder of an infant in her care, abuse of a child, and operating a family childcare home without a license. The first offense is a AA felony punishable by up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to Foster County State’s Attorney Kara Brinster, on September 26, 2022, the Carrington Ambulance and Carrington Police Department responded to a daycare operated by Wick on the report of an unresponsive 5-month-old baby. The baby was air flighted to Sanford Hospital in Fargo where its death was ruled as a result of injuries.
An affidavit filed with the court cites a hospital source saying, “The infant has clearly suffered traumatic head injury and subsequently had a cardiac arrest...”
A January autopsy concluded that the infant “died as a result of complications of blunt force head and neck trauma. Manner of death was determined to be homicide.”
Judge James Hovey set a pre-trial conference in the case for April 11, 2023.
