Staunton Star - Times - Published in the Interest of the Staunton Community for Over 143 Years

Ashley Bottoms, age 33, of Carlinville appeared in Macoupin County court on Monday, July 17. Bottoms pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of 3-year-old Hunter Lee Drew.

Bottoms was arrested on Oct. 20, 2022, after Hunter died in her care. Bottoms was breaking up a fight in her home between two juveniles and threw Hunter whose head hit a ledge. Bottoms then drove around for more than three hours with the child in the vehicle without seeking medical care, and he died in the car from a brain bleed.

Bottoms had been investigated by DCFS multiple times in an 18-month span and...