Wisconsin Mother Sentenced After Newborn Suffers Skull Fractures in Drug-Related Neglect Case
A West Bend woman accused of neglecting her newborn baby has taken a plea deal after the child suffered serious injuries just five days after birth.
According to prosecutors, 34-year-old Janet Solis pleaded guilty on Monday, Oct. 13, to one count of child neglect resulting in great bodily harm. An Ozaukee County judge sentenced her to two years in prison, followed by four years of extended supervision.
The case goes back to November 4, when police in West Bend were told that a five-day-old infant had been rushed to the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton with skull fractures. The criminal complaint paints a deeply troubling picture of what happened that night.
Investigators say Solis had reportedly overdosed on heroin while at the hospital. A nurse later found her unresponsive in her bed, while the newborn was discovered on the floor beneath the bed, next to a baby bottle. The infant was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit and diagnosed with two linear skull fractures. Doctors said the injuries were consistent with a fall from a hospital bed onto a hard tile floor.
Police and child protective services later uncovered more alarming details. Reports showed ongoing concerns about drug use by both Solis and her partner, identified in the documents as Berg. Solis reportedly told investigators she skipped prenatal care because she was afraid child protective services would get involved. She also admitted to using heroin and smoking marijuana while pregnant.
Tests confirmed those admissions. Solis’s urine tested positive for marijuana and fentanyl, while the baby tested positive for cocaine, fentanyl, and THC. The infant was also suffering withdrawal symptoms at birth.
During an interview, Solis told detectives she used heroin daily—two to three times a day—and initially claimed Berg didn’t use drugs. But later, she admitted he also used heroin every day and that he was the one who supplied it to her.
When detectives questioned Berg, he claimed hospital staff asked him about Solis’s drug use, and he told them he had “no idea” she was using. He also said he wasn’t at the hospital when the baby fell, but that Solis had called him and told him “the nurses were being ridiculous about it.”
Investigators said Berg denied using drugs for the past two years, but later changed his story and admitted he and Solis were both daily heroin users. He also said he drove to Milwaukee one or two times a week to buy heroin.
Prosecutors described the case as a heartbreaking example of addiction endangering a child. While Solis’s guilty plea brings some closure, the details of what happened that night remain deeply unsettling. The baby’s current condition has not been publicly shared, but officials said the child survived after receiving emergency medical care.