Father Brent Bredhold could face up to 40 years in jail after being convicted by a jury on one count of neglect of a dependent causing death relating to his 12-year-old daughter
A father is facing significant prison time after being found legally culpable for his 12-year-old daughter’s death.
Brent Bredhold, 39, faces a maximum sentence of 40 years behind bars having been convicted by a jury on one count of ‘neglect of a dependent causing death’. It follows the tragic death of the defendant’s daughter, Alice Bredhold, 12, who died due to preventable complications from poorly-managed diabetes.
Alice was found dead on her bedroom floor on July 4, 2024, at the family’s residence on South New York Avenue in Evansville, Indiana. The subsequent investigation determined the girl had diabetes, but that her parents were not helping her manage the lifelong disease. Before Alice died, the Department of Child Services contacted Alice’s parents because her blood sugar levels frequently tested exceedingly high while she was at school, Law and Crime reports.
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The prosecution cited a school nurse who reported 44 readings in excess of 300 and 14 readings above 600 in the weeks leading up to her death. For people with diabetes, blood sugar levels less than 180 two hours after starting a meal are considered typical targets, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The state argued that it was the parents’ responsibility to deal with Alice’s health condition, give she was just 12 years old. “Kids don’t understand the value of daily routines,” Prosecutor Winston Lin told the jury. “With Type 1 diabetes, it is critical.”
He further suggested that Alice’s death was forewarned given the circumstances, citing people who described her passing as “a shocking event but not surprising”.
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The prosecution said Alice had been hospitalised numerous times since she was 10 years old, and following one event, the Bredhold family obtained the services of a pediatric psychologist.
But even then, Lin said, Brent Bredhold “did not follow through with the psychologist’s professional guidance”.
Bredhold’s defense attorney, Dawnya Taylor, said the prosecution might have led jurors to believe he was a single parent – which he is not.
Instead, she argued, the defendant was often not at home and able to deal with daily tasks because of his job working on the railroad, which often caused him to travel for more than two days at a time.
Brent Bredhold is scheduled to be sentenced on 23 October while the trial of Alice’s mother, Ashley Marie Bredhold, 39, who is accused of the exact same crime – is set to begin in February 2026.