A Fort Wayne, Indiana, mother is behind bars after pleading guilty to neglect in connection with the death of her 2-month-old daughter, who died after becoming trapped beneath a couch cushion while her mother slept.
Quinzena M. Rancefer, 31, pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury earlier this year.
Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull sentenced her Friday, imposing the maximum seven-year cap included in her plea agreement. A separate report from Local 12 said Rancefer received a 10-year sentence, with three years suspended.
The case began in March 2024, when Fort Wayne police responded to a report of a 2-month-old girl in critical condition. Doctors later pronounced the child dead. Court records obtained by WPTA determined that she died from asphyxia caused by overlay and wedging.
Overlay is defined as the accidental suffocation of an infant that happens when a larger person rolls on top of or presses against them during sleep.
According to court documents, Rancefer told investigators that her daughter normally slept in a bassinet. On the night of the child’s death, however, the baby was in Rancefer’s arms while the two were on a couch.
Rancefer told police she positioned the infant between herself and the back of the couch because she was afraid the baby could fall.
Her cousin later woke her, and she discovered that the child was no longer breathing. Rancefer denied using drugs when investigators questioned her.
The cousin provided investigators with his account of what happened inside the home. He arrived to find Rancefer asleep on the couch with the infant “face down and lying mostly underneath the couch cushion.”
He reportedly struck Rancefer several times in an effort to wake her. Once she realized the baby was not breathing, she became “hysterical.”
Investigators also found drug-related items inside the apartment, including a glass pipe containing burnt residue, a torch lighter, marijuana and prescription medication, according to court documents. Police also found a Gabapentin bottle with the prescription label removed and a smoked cigarillo.
A drug screen conducted after the baby’s death later showed Rancefer tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine, according to court records. A Department of Child Services case manager also reported that Rancefer appeared to be falling asleep during their interview.
The records further state that the infant had drugs in her system before birth, including THC. The hospital did not report that finding to the Department of Child Services.
Authorities said those circumstances, along with the unsafe sleeping arrangement, contributed to their conclusion that Rancefer had been negligent in her daughter’s death.
Rancefer’s case initially headed toward a jury trial, but she accepted a plea agreement in 2026 that resolved the neglect charge and canceled the scheduled trial.
The case had also drawn investigators to the conditions inside Rancefer’s Fort Wayne home. Police obtained a search warrant after responding to the emergency and then documented drug paraphernalia and other substances inside the apartment.
The child’s death came after what Rancefer described to police as an attempt to keep her daughter from falling from the couch. But investigators said the decision to sleep with the infant in that position created a dangerous environment for the child.
