This babysitter gave a toddler Xanax – and left her alone to go see a movie, police say

Summer Shalodi, a 32-year-old woman from Ohio, was babysitting 17-month Nadia Gibbons when she gave the toddler a generic form of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax and left her alone to go see a movie with a friend.

Shalodi left the house at around 8:45 p.m. in Dec. 2015, Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Laura Dezort said, and went to catch a film at a movie theater and shop at Walmart before returning at 2:30 a.m., according to The News-Herald.

When Shalodi returned and realized Gibbons was unconscious, she put the toddler in hot water and shook her in hopes of reviving her instead of calling 911, Dezort said, according to Cleveland.com.

And when she finally called 911, it was too late: first responders said Gibbons was cold and unresponsive when they arrived, according to the Associated Press.

Gibbons died from a combination of Alprazolam intoxication from the medication and head trauma caused by Shalodi shaking her, according to Cleveland.com. A coroner said Gibbons, who also was burned by the hot water, was dead hours before emergency crews reached her, the AP reported.

On Thursday, Shalodi apologized in court and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs, endangering children and tampering with evidence, according to The Chronicle.

She was sentenced to serve 22 years in jail as a part of the plea deal that dropped the most serious charge of murder, The Chronicle reported.

Making the plea deal wasn’t an easy decision, Dezort said, but it was the right one for Nadia Nicole Gibbons, the mother of the deceased toddler.

“We have reached this agreement in order to bring finality to this case,” Dezort said, according to The Chronicle. “It was a difficult decision, but it’s one that’s supported by the feeling to achieve that goal of certainty in this case.”

Shalodi, who the News-Herald wrote had to give a statement before the court as a part of her plea deal, apologized for giving the 17-month-old medication intended to fend off anxiety and panic disorders.

“I accept responsibility for Nadia ingesting Xanax, and for what happened after I got home,” she said to the court, according to the News-Herald. “Nadia was not responsive when I got home. I did several things to try and revive her. They were poor choices on my part.

“I was trying to find the right words, and I know there will never be the right sorry or the right words to say,” she continued. “I can only offer my apology now and tell you so sincerely that if I could change this, if I could fix this, I would and tell you a million times how sorry I am, and that I think about it all the time, every single day.”

But the toddler’s mother finds it hard to forgive Shalodi.

“Every day is hard and I feel anger that my daughter was taken,” The Chronicle reported she told the court. “My baby was taken from me. She was murdered by someone I had built a relationship with, who reached out to us and said she wanted to spend time with her.

“She thanked me for letting her watch Nadia. She deceived me even though I trusted her with my most precious gift.”

According to The News-Herald, Shalodi has to pay around $19,000 in fines and restitution and, after leaving jail, will be under house arrest for five years.

This story was originally published October 21, 2017 at 12:04 PM with the headline "This babysitter gave a toddler Xanax – and left her alone to go see a movie, police say."