Mineral Point woman sentenced for death of 4-month-old

A Mineral Point woman was sentenced Friday for her role in the death of a child under her care. 31-year-old JoAnna Ford pleaded guilty to six of the seven charges against her in connection with a 4-month-old’s death. An Iowa County judge convicted day care provider JoAnna Ford of Neglecting a Child resulting in death, Neglecting a Child less than 6 years old, and 4 counts of Retail Theft. As a result of the plea agreement, a reckless homicide charge that had been filed against Ford was dropped. The judge handed down a sentence for JoAnna Ford of 23 years- split into 11 years in prison and 12 years of extended supervision. The judge said she was ordering 20 years in prison for the charge of child neglect where the consequence is death. This is split into 10 years of initial confinement and 10 years of extended supervision. For the four other child neglect charges, the judge issued a sentence of one year of initial confinement and two years of extended supervision. These sentences run consecutively to the child neglect causing death charge, but at the same time as one another.  One year in the county jail, held concurrently to all counts, was also handed down for the felony retail theft charge.  According to a criminal complaint, Ford was negligent for leaving 4-month-old Wyatt Hamlin in her care unattended by an adult on Feb. 25, 2022. Hamlin died four days later.