BRAINERD, Minn. 鈥� The 37-year-old Brainerd woman accused of domestic abuse after a child was dropped off at school with significant injuries was sentenced Thursday, Jan. 11, in Crow Wing County District Court.
Dayna Leigh Baker pleaded guilty Sept. 18, 2023, to gross misdemeanor malicious punishment of a child. She was sentenced Thursday by Crow Wing County District Court Judge Kristine DeMay to 364 days in jail, but the execution of that sentence was stayed for two years while Baker serves on probation.
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Along with two years of supervised probation, she was ordered to serve 90 days in the Crow Wing County Jail, to begin immediately; pay a fine of $3,000, stayed on condition of 60 hours of work service; and have no contact with minors in any role where she would be supervising them.
A felony domestic assault charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Baker appeared before DeMay with her attorney, Mohammed El-Bashir. Prior to sentencing, a family member and current guardian of the victim read a victim impact statement to the court via Zoom in which she told the court the kids are so traumatized by what happened with Baker that their therapist said it would be years before they started to recover.
Assistant Crow Wing County Attorney Janine LePage said she was sickened that the systems in place to protect foster children had failed the victims so badly. LePage said the victimization in this case was so horrific, but Baker would be sentenced on the charges they were able to find and prove.
The gross misdemeanor charge carried a sentence of 364 days confinement, while the felony charge, with no prior criminal history, would carry a sentence of 12 months.
鈥淭he difference is one day鈥� of incarceration between the two charges, LePage noted. With Baker having no previous criminal history, LePage said the state did not want to put the children through a trial to convict Baker of a felony to get one more day in custody.
Though Baker continued to assert she never touched the children, LePage asked the judge to follow the recommendations of the presentence investigation.
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El-Bashir asked the court to sentence Baker on what she admitted to and not what she allegedly did, as she had continued to state she never harmed the children.
鈥淧ast allegations are just that,鈥� El-Bashir said. 鈥淪he had never been charged with a crime. 鈥� We just want her to get what she pleaded to.鈥�
Rebuffing El-Bashir鈥檚 claims, LePage reminded the court that photos of the assault were submitted as part of the plea in September.
Before handing down the sentence, DeMay acknowledged that Baker had entered into an Alford plea and would take what she had pleaded guilty to and the evidence supporting it into consideration. An Alford plea allows a defendant to plead guilty and receive a known sentence while maintaining their innocence instead of taking their chances in a criminal trial.
鈥淎 sentence will not magically erase the trauma of these kids,鈥� DeMay said.
Baker is currently being held in Crow Wing County Jail.
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