Mother charged with involuntary manslaughter in infant death

Posted on July 31, 2015
Elizabeth Potts, Timothy Crafton Sr.
Elizabeth Potts and Timothy Crafton Sr. have been charged in the death of their 11-week old daughter. (Photos courtesy McLean County Jail)

By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – McLean County prosecutors have charged the mother of an 11-week old girl who died last year with involuntary manslaughter, one day after the girl’s father was charged.

Elizabeth Potts, 21, of Bloomington was taken into custody on Thursday morning. Her bond has been set at $500,000. She’s also been charged with child endangerment and obstruction of justice. She and her husband Timothy Crafton Sr. are accused of unintentionally killing Leah-Renee Crafton.

Prosecutors say the girl was left in a car seat with a blanket covering her face in December of 2013. The infant died last November. The father was charged on Wednesday.

The two also reportedly told police the girl was placed on her back, not in the car seat.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].

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