Her boyfriend, Dustin Rybak, 28, pleaded guilty in March to involuntary manslaughter, child endangering and two counts of tampering with evidence. He was sentenced in April to 18 years in prison. Laurel had agreed to testify against Rybak if needed.
Laurel was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, permitting child abuse, endangering children and tampering with evidence for helping Rybak cover Takota up with makeup before he arrived at Dayton Children’s Hospital.
“This child was severely beaten and burned to the point that his injuries proved fatal,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said in a press release. “Despite her awareness of prior injuries sustained by her child at the hands of her boyfriend, this mother did nothing to protect her son.”
“Moreover she covered her child’s injuries with makeup in an attempt to deceive authorities and to avoid responsibility. See something, say something. All of us should report child abuse.”
Mattie Hasty, a family member, said Laurel got off easy.
“Six years ain’t enough for that baby’s life,” Hasty said. “She may have to suffer but we’ve been suffering too. She’s not the only one suffering.”
On April 7, 2013, a Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputy was called to the hospital where Takota was in complete cardiopulmonary arrest, had no pulse and was not breathing.
Prosecutors said Takota had numerous cuts and abrasions and a number of burn marks. He was placed on life support, but had no brain activity and was removed from life support and died the next day.
In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors had asked for seven years for Laurel, who has another young child. “Here, the victim was a small child, who depended upon his mother for protection,” the memo stated. “Instead, she served him up to his own killer.”
A group of people, including the family of Takota, held a peaceful demonstration outside the courthouse the day Rybak was sentenced. A sign of one of the protesters read: “We need real justice for the children.”
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