A Naples mother who left her baby unattended in the bath, causing the child to drown, has been sentenced to a decade in prison.
Nicole Laber, 31, on Sept. 16 pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated manslaughter of a child in the June 17, 2023, death of her child, referenced in court documents by the initials "PL." The child drowned in a bathtub.
Collier Circuit Judge John McGowan accepted her plea and sentenced Laber to 10 years in prison with credit for the two years she served behind bars, followed by 10 years of probation.
According to court documents, when authorities responded to the home more than two years ago, Laber was crying hysterically and having difficulty speaking, according to court documents.
Authorities saw the dog's bowl was on the kitchen counter with a towel near the front door. Next to the dog's bowl, they saw a blue marijuana pipe with residue inside, the report indicates. Next to it, they reported seeing a container labeled as medical marijuana, prescribed to Laber.
Authorities also said the bottom of a bathtub appeared wet with fecal matter, while the drain seemed "stopped up with some sort of toy."
Two days later, on June 19, 2023, Laber contacted authorities, saying she wanted to review her original statements and changed her story, the report indicates.
Her husband, Shane Laber, told authorities he suspected she lied to him about the drowning and, when he confronted her, she confessed that the child had drowned in the bathtub, the report indicates. Nicole Laber initially claimed the child drowned in their dog's water bowl.
Deputies determined Nicole Laber had left the infant unattended in a bathtub while strapped to a booster seat to spend some "alone time." However, the booster seat tipped over, trapping the child.
