Parents receive decadeslong sentences for neglect of baby who died
Jan 12, 2026
ANDERSON, Ind. (WISH) — A judge on Monday sentenced a mother to 38 years in prison and a father to 40 years in the death of their 17-month-old child, the Madison County prosecutor said in a news release issued Monday.
A jury in Madison Circuit Court 1 on Dec. 5 found Shelby Langford, 24, an
d Nicolas Arnett, 29, guilty of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a top-level felony.
An initial investigative report said the child was 10 months old when police were called to the family’s home on Dec. 5, 2023, near the intersection of Madison Avenue and West Fifth Street, northwest of downtown Anderson. The baby died in September 2024, according to a previous News 8 report.
Detectives with the Anderson Police Department began their investigation after the child, Kamryn Arnett, was taken from the family’s apartment to a hospital, where medical professionals had noticed bruises on the child.
The child was later moved to Riley Hospital for Children. At the Indianapolis hospital, medical professionals learned the child had three spinal fractures consistent to traumatic injury that was not the result of a medical condition or injuries from an older sibling. Later, the child suffered a cardiac arrest. The spine fractures had led to spinal cord injury and paralysis. Later, the child also was found to have brain injuries and other bone fractures.
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