Department of Human Services v. C. M. P.

Mother appeals judgments terminating her parental rights to her two young daughters, HL and CP, entered two years after she, at the age of 19, killed the children’s father during a domestic dispute. The Department of Human Services (DHS) took custody of HL shortly after the incident and of CP shortly after her birth several months later. Mother ultimately pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment. The children were initially placed in the care of mother’s sister (DP), but after 13 months DHS elected to move them to live with their paternal…