PELLA — A day care provider is scheduled to be sentenced in April for her role in the death of a 17-month-old child.
Valerie Wackerly, 32, of Pella, pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter. The child was found unresponsive June 10 at Wackerly’s in-home day care. The child died later at a Des Moines hospital. Authorities say Amelia Smith died of mechanical or positional asphyxia. She’d been left in a car seat while taking a nap in a dark room at Wackerly’s home.