A woman who was charged after an infant ingested cocaine in Jeannette in 2022 has pleaded guilty to an unrelated animal cruelty charge.
Shelly Kemerer, 55, of Washington County, was ordered to serve two years on probation in connection with allegations she neglected to properly care for a cat at a Greensburg home earlier that year.
The manager of the Walnut Avenue apartment complex notified police after he found the cat without food or water in the unit Kemerer had vacated several weeks earlier, according to court documents.
A veterinarian diagnosed the cat as being dehydrated and underweight. One of the feline’s eyes was removed after being nearly ruptured as the result of an infection or injury, police said.
Prosecutors dismissed one felony county of aggravated cruelty and torture of the animal.
In addition to the probation term, Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Stewart ordered that Kemerer not own or possess any animals or pets as she serves out her sentence.
Child endangerment case
Kemerer remains free on a $15,000 unsecured bond as she awaits trial on charges of child endangerment in connection to allegations that she and former housemates at a Jeannette apartment exposed a 1-year-old infant to illegal drugs.
In that case, police contend Kemerer and her daughter, Latasha Cottrell, 35, were enlisted to care for the child at a South Seventh Street home in Jeannette.
The next morning, police said the mother took the child to the hospital where medical personnel determined she had ingested cocaine.
Police said Cottrell admitted she used cocaine several times throughout the prior evening. When police searched the home the next day they found a small pile of a white substance on the carpet next to a couch where the girl slept, according to court documents.
In addition to Kemerer and Cottrell, the child’s parents, Samantha Linn Stanford, 29, and Michael A. Dewberry, 38; and another woman who police said lived in the home, Anna Marie Dengler, 52, were charged with counts that include child endangerment and drug offenses.
They are scheduled for a joint trial in March, according to court records.
