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Former Watertown child care provider sentenced in death of toddler

Chris Potter
/
stockmonkeys.com
Amanda Walder has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter

A former Watertown child care provider has been sentenced in death of a toddler.

Attorney General Marty Jackley said Amanda Walder has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter in the 2021 death of a 17-month-old child.

Walder was also ordered to pay $13,164.75 in restitution to the family and $1,339.86 to Codington County.

In July 2021, Walder had been watching the toddler at her at-home daycare.

Watertown police responded to a call of an unconscious child. Investigators say the child died of traumatic brain injury caused by assault.

Walder pleaded guilty to killing the child in a moment of passion in a cruel and unusual manner.

Madeline Grabow is a South Dakota Public Broadcasting intern based in Sioux Falls. She is a sophomore at Georgetown University studying international politics.