Mother pleads guilty to child endangerment in death of Dante Mullinix

Two and a half weeks after a York County jury acquitted her former boyfriend in the murder of her 2-year-old son, Leah Mullinix pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to a charge of child endangerment in Dante Mullinix’s death.

Mullinix, 26, entered what’s called an open plea to the single charge, a third-degree felony, and faces a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison.

Mullinix did not describe her actions in court, instead answering questions from York County Common Pleas Court Judge Amber Kraft with simple “yes” or “no” answers. When asked whether, between Aug. 28, 2018, and Sept. 6, 2018, the date her son died, she “knowingly endangered (her son’s) welfare and violated” her duty to care for him, she answered yes.

After entering the plea, she left the courtroom, and the courthouse, accompanied by sheriff’s deputies, for her own protection. Members of her family, including her sister who has crusaded for justice for Dante, and her former boyfriend, Tyree Bowie, were present in court when she entered her plea.

Previously:Jurors find Tyree Bowie not guilty of all charges in death of 2-year-old Dante Mullinix

His mother's testimony: Mother of killed toddler finishes 20-plus hour testimony, Bowie mother and nurse testify

Dante's life:‘This poor kid was doomed from the beginning:' The tragic life and death of Dante Mullinix

Mullinix’s sister, Sarah Mullinix, Dante’s aunt who was trying to get custody of her nephew at the time of his death, said, “At least she’s owning up to it, well, part of it.”

Bowie’s attorney, Farley Holt, suggested that the abuse that led to Dante’s death had been inflicted by Mullinix and that the case was “about Leah,” that she should have been charged with more serious offenses, including assault and attempted homicide.

Holt also alleged that testimony during Bowie’s trial indicated that another one of her former boyfriends, Hector “Holiday” Rivera, should have faced charges in the case, that Mullinix told Bowie about Rivera’s abuse of the boy, which included giving the child herpes. Rivera, an alleged member of the Latin Kings gang, has not been charged in the case and is believed to have gone to Florida after Dante’s death, Sarah Mullinix said.

“She’s still blaming others,” Holt said. “This poor kid still isn’t going to get justice.”

Bowie, 41, was charged with first- and third-degree murder and child endangerment right after Dante died in September 2018. He maintained his innocence and was acquitted on Dec. 30, 2022, after a four-week-long trial.

During the trial, Bowie testified that Dante choked on a Teddy Graham cookie in his car the night of Sept. 6 and he took him to York Hospital, where he'd taken his mother earlier that evening after she complained of having a migraine. Medical evidence showed that Dante died as a result of a traumatic brain injury.

Holt asserted that Mullinix created the migraine to “give herself an alibi,” that she had withheld medication from her son and that had caused injuries that may have contributed to his death. Video surveillance from the York Hospital emergency department showed Mullinix sitting under a bright light, even though darkened areas were available, and using her phone as she sat there.

Emergency room physicians discovered serious bruises all over Dante’s body, injuries on top of bruises that doctors had witnessed during the child’s previous visits to the hospital.

Mullinix testified during Bowie’s trial, spending 20-plus hours over three days on the witness stand. Holt said jurors told him after the trial that they had made up their minds after his cross examination of Mullinix. Mullinix, he said, neglected Dante and he asserted that she caused the bruises that were on his body Sept. 6. He also pointed to testimony that showed that she failed to seek medical treatment for her son after he contracted a painful genital infection.

After entering her plea, Mullinix left the courthouse without commenting. Her attorney, Joshua Neiderhiser, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Kraft ordered a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for April 20.

Columnist/reporter Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Leah Mullinix pleads guilty to child endangerment in her son's death