Crooks Gets 14-Year Term

Even though the judge said he felt sorry for Kristina Crooks, he sentenced her to 14 years in prison for the death of her daughter. Crooks' lawyers announced they plan to appeal her conviction.

The North Webster mother convicted of reckless homicide and neglect in the death of her daughter was sentenced to 14 years in prison Thursday. The last four years of the sentence were suspended to probation.

Kristina Crooks, 20, faces 10 years in prison for the 1996 death of her 11-month-old daughter Lois Marie Ozenbaugh. The presumptive sentence for the Class B felony is 10 years, and Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed added four years due to aggravating circumstances. He ruled that Lois' age and inability to take care of herself outweighed the mitigating factors in Crooks' favor.

Under the Indiana prison system, Crooks may serve only five years of the term if she is released early for good behavior.

Ozenbaugh was found dead on Jan. 24, 1996, after choking on her own vomit. An autopsy found six cigarette butts in her stomach and Valium in her blood.

Crooks went through a four-day trial in January and was found guilty on all three charges against her.

Reed handed her the heaviest sentence for the Class B felony of neglect of a dependent causing death. Her prison sentences of six years for reckless hom icide and two years for neglect of a dependent were ordered to be served concurrently with the 14 years.

Defense attorney Jay Rigdon asked the judge during the hearing for justice regardless of the media attention the case had drawn. He pointed out Crooks' history and said, "She has had the cards stacked against her most of her life."

Rigdon reminded the court Crooks does not have a criminal history and urged Reed to consider the mitigating factors for Crooks. He asked the judge to sentence Crooks under the Class D felony of neglect, not the higher ranking felony.

"Consider the importance of her [Crooks] life, her family and her children's lives," Rigdon said. He went on to describe how Crooks had worked with officials over the past year to take care of her children. She recently signed over custody of her two daughters to a cousin in southern Indiana.

Kosciusko County prosecutor David Kolbe tried to reinforce the aggravating factors surrounding Lois' death and urged Reed to hand Crooks a heavier sentence.

"The victim was very, very young," Kolbe said. He said the law considers a victim less than 12 years old to be an aggravating factor.

Kolbe requested a prison sentence for Crooks because he thought she needed "significant correctional rehabilitation in a controlled environment." Even though he said Crooks had chances for help in her life, Kolbe said the efforts were not effective. Kolbe also asked for prison time because he felt the seriousness of the crime would "be depreciated if the sentence was less."

Crooks did not make a statement during the hearing.

In his decision, Reed spoke to Crooks as a parent would to a child. He said, "I must sentence you as if this courtroom was empty. Also, I endeavor to sentence you in a fashion that enables me to sleep at night. I can't give you a sentence I don't believe is just."

"I don't think anyone knows what the right sentence is," he said later. "I only hope it is one considering the seriousness of the crime and the hard work the jury went through to decide these things."

Reed told Crooks he thought up to age 20, she "made terrible, terrible judgments and choices."

"There is no doubt in my mind that you're sorry, I'm sorry, everyone in this room is sorry," Reed said to Crooks.

Reed said although he felt it was necessary to sentence Crooks to prison time, he feels it is "unlikely" Crooks will be involved in such a tragic situation again. "I don't believe she would commit another crime of this nature," he said.

"I normally send [someone] to jail when found guilty," Reed said. But he didn't remand Crooks into custody after her jury trial for two reasons. "First, I never felt much sorrier for anyone in my life as she sat there by herself with only her attorneys around her," Reed told the court. "Second, I wanted to see if she'd run or not. I didn't think you would and you didn't," he told Crooks. "That told me something about you."

Reed said he considered the factors for Crooks against the facts of the crime she was convicted of before making his decision on her sentence.

After Crooks was taken into Kosciusko County Jail, Vicki Dittman said, "It's finally over." Dittman took care of Lois and Autumn, Crooks' oldest daughter, for more than eight months in 1995. She spearheaded a bumper sticker campaign asking for "Justice for Lois."

"They [the bumper stickers] say now 'Baby Lois Got Justice' because she did, especially here," Dittman said at the sentencing.

"I just wanted something," Dittman said when asked what kind of punishment she wanted for Crooks. "My anger is gone. ... I'm just glad she got something. She should have to pay."

Dittman said she can't picture Lois as a two-year-old and will always picture Lois like she was. "In my mind, she'll never grow up," Dittman said.

"I really feel like we got what we were after," Dittman said, closing a chapter on her grief and Crooks' life.