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Cameron Carper, 32, of Bedford entered a guilty plea last Monday to one count of child endangerment and one count of possession of a schedule I or II drug in connection with the death of an infant in November 2023.
Carper was indicted by a Rockbridge County grand jury last May on those charges, as well as charges of involuntary manslaughter and child abuse or neglect, in connection with the death of Holton Hostetter on Nov. 24, 2023.
The involuntary manslaughter and child abuse charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement with the commonwealth’s attorney’s office. Carper initially pled not guilty to all charges when arraigned in July and was scheduled to stand trial this week before changing his plea. A pre-sentence report was ordered and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 4.
An autopsy determined that Hostetter died of accidental suffocation after becoming pinned between a pillow and the side of the bassinet in which he was sleeping.
Hostetter’s mother, Julia Hostetter, was also indicted on the same charges as Carper last May. She pled guilty in January to the charges of child endangerment and drug possession, with the involuntary manslaughter and child abuse charges being dropped as part of a plea agreement. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 14.
