The two cases, separated by more than a decade, both ended with guilty pleas to reckless homicide and child endangering.
PAINESVILLE, Ohio — The names of the charges were the same, but the children and circumstances were different: reckless homicide and child endangering in a 2009 drowning, followed by new convictions involving the suffocation of an infant in 2023.
Krystal D. Krause’s latest guilty pleas place two separate child-death prosecutions into the same court history. Krause, now 41, admitted in Lake County Common Pleas Court that she committed reckless homicide and endangered her 2-month-old son, known publicly only by the initials DK. Seventeen years earlier, she had faced prosecution in Summit County after her 3-year-old son wandered outside and drowned in a swimming pool. That case also ended with guilty pleas to reckless homicide and child endangering and a two-year prison sentence.
The repetition of the charges is the most striking connection between the cases, but the available records describe distinct events. In 2009, investigators said the toddler left a home and reached a pool while Krause was inside. In the latest case, prosecutors said the infant was placed in an unsafe sleeping environment and suffocated. They also said Krause had received repeated warnings from doctors and caregivers about proper infant sleep practices before the baby’s death. The court will decide her punishment for the latest convictions at a sentencing hearing scheduled for Aug. 13.
The first case began in Cuyahoga Falls when police responded to a report that a 3-year-old boy had drowned. According to a police account later reviewed by WKYC, Krause said she had gone to the bathroom for about 10 minutes while her son played in the living room. She said that when she returned, she heard her father scream and learned that the boy had gone outside and fallen into the pool. Publicly available reporting does not provide the full police file, identify all adults who were at the property or explain what barriers, if any, stood between the home and the water.
A Summit County grand jury indicted Krause in July 2009 on involuntary manslaughter and child-endangering charges. The involuntary-manslaughter count was described as a first-degree felony. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors reduced it to reckless homicide, a third-degree felony. Krause pleaded guilty that October to reckless homicide and endangering children. A judge later sentenced her to two years in prison, establishing the first conviction connected to the death of one of her children.
More than a decade after that sentence, Wickliffe police were sent to a Ridge Road home on Nov. 15, 2023, for an unresponsive baby. Officers found Krause’s 2-month-old son face down on her bed, according to news reports based on police and court information. The child was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities did not announce charges at the time, and early reports about the later prosecution said the precise circumstances and cause of death had not yet been publicly released.
The case remained an investigation for more than two years. Police forwarded their findings to the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office, which eventually presented the matter to a grand jury. The grand jury returned an indictment on April 7, 2026, accusing Krause of reckless homicide and endangering children. She was arrested shortly afterward and booked into the Lake County Jail. The charging document alleged that, as the child’s parent, she recklessly violated her duty of care and created a substantial risk to the baby’s health or safety. Krause appeared for arraignment April 14 and entered a not-guilty plea through her lawyer. The prosecution and defense recommended a $10,000 bond, but the judge set it at $25,000. Her family posted bond, allowing her to leave jail while the case moved toward trial. Public defender Chad Mulkey told the court that Krause had a stable residence, was employed and had no prior record of failing to appear for scheduled proceedings, according to WKYC.
The public understanding of the infant’s death changed at Krause’s later plea hearing. Prosecutors disclosed that the child died from suffocation and said he had been placed in an unsafe sleep environment. WOIO reported that prosecutors also told the judge Krause had been warned multiple times by medical professionals and other caregivers about safe sleeping conditions for the baby. Those warnings became a central part of the state’s account because they indicated that the danger had allegedly been explained before the fatal event.
News reports do not specify the nature of every warning or provide the complete medical and investigative evidence. They do not say precisely what bedding or other objects were present, how long the infant had been unattended, or whether another adult was in the home. No full transcript of the plea hearing was included in the reviewed reports. What is established by the court result is that Krause withdrew her original denial and pleaded guilty to both felony counts.
The second conviction does not reopen the 2009 case, and it does not change the sentence imposed then. Its legal importance lies in the offenses admitted in Lake County and the penalty the judge must now select. Its broader significance comes from the unusual recurrence: two sons died in separate incidents years apart, and both deaths led to Krause’s conviction for reckless homicide and child endangering.
The earlier conviction may be discussed at sentencing, but available reports do not state how prosecutors will ask the judge to weigh it or what sentence the defense will request. Reports indicate that Krause faces between 18 months and six years in prison on the current convictions, along with a potential fine of up to $20,000. The exact structure of the possible sentence, including how the punishment on each count may be imposed, will be determined by the court under Ohio law.
There is also no published statement from Krause explaining why she changed her plea. A guilty plea means the case will not proceed to a jury trial, where prosecutors would otherwise have been required to present witnesses and evidence proving every element beyond a reasonable doubt. It also means the public may not hear the same full presentation of medical findings, witness testimony and investigative details that a trial could have produced.
For now, the two cases remain separated by county lines, years and circumstances but connected through the court record. One involved a toddler who reached a pool while unsupervised. The other involved a 2-month-old who prosecutors said suffocated in an unsafe sleeping environment after repeated warnings. Both ended with Krause accepting criminal responsibility for reckless conduct that caused a child’s death.
Currently, Krause is awaiting the Aug. 13 sentencing hearing in Lake County. Until the judge issues a sentence, the length of any new prison term and the amount of any fine remain unresolved.
Author note: Last updated Aug. 4, 2026.