This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A man whose 13-month-old daughter died from a heroin overdose in 2015 was sentenced Wednesday to up to five years in prison.
Casey Joseph Cormani, 32, of Pleasant Grove, was originally charged in 4th District Court with first-degree felony child endangerment for the Dec. 2, 2015, death of his child, Penny Cormani, but he pleaded guilty in April to a lesser charge of attempted manslaughter, a third-degree felony.
As part of the plea agreement, a charge of class B misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia was dropped.
Judge Lynn Davis gave Cormani credit for 15 days of time served before he was taken into custody.
Penny's mother, Cassandra L. Richards was given the same sentence in February.
Charging documents state that prior to the child's death, Richards and Cormani were living with another couple at a Provo apartment near 500 West and 1800 North.
"Both couples have a long history of using heroin and had been 'binging' for a couple of days," charges state.
On the day the baby died, she "ingested large amount of loose heroin," and overdosed, charges state.
Inside the apartment, police found several items of drug paraphernalia, including foil with drug residue, charges say.
Search warrant affidavits say the girl was playing in a front room that morning, and that Richards put her down for a nap with a bottle of milk about 11 a.m.
When the mother checked on her about noon, the baby was unresponsive with purple or blue lips, according to the search warrants. The mother took her downstairs and attempted CPR.
Paramedics arrived and took the child to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where she was later declared dead.
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