Yesterday Alyia Iverson, 27, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree and was sentenced to 78 months in prison after her toddler son ingested meth in her Spanaway home and died.

“Sad, tragic and avoidable,” said Prosecutor Mark Lindquist. “Parents are supposed to protect and care for their children. Instead, the defendant was criminally reckless.”

On Dec. 6, 2012, several people were doing drugs inside the home where Iverson lived with her 2-year-old son. Iverson saw the toddler drink her bong water, but she did not call 911. Instead, she swaddled him tightly in a blanket and placed him on the bed at 1 a.m. Iverson said this irritated the toddler, and he was “pissin and moanin,” so she “cleaned up the room enough that he had his own spot on the floor.”

At 3:00 a.m., she discovered he was not breathing. When paramedics arrived, the toddler did not have a pulse, and they could not insert an airway because his jaw was locked. He was transported to the hospital. The emergency room physician noted that the toddler’s body was stiff even though he had a temperature of 104 degrees. His pupils were fixed and dilated, he had multiple bruises, and his feet, fingers and nails were extremely dirty. Fifteen minutes later, he was pronounced dead.

According to the medical examiner, the toddler died from acute methamphetamine poisoning. Toxicology reports showed that he ingested THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and enough methamphetamine to kill an adult. Before dying, the toddler would have exhibited obvious signs of distress including a fever, convulsions and seizures.

Witnesses told detectives that Iverson has a history of smoking meth in her children’s presence, the house was unsanitary, and the children were not properly fed and were physically abused. The toddler and his sister were removed from Iverson’s home in 2011, but she was able to regain custody.