SULLIVAN COUNTY — On January 24, 2025, Sullivan County District Attorney Brian P. Conaty announced that a Sullivan County Grand Jury has returned a True Bill of Indictment charging Sarah Carter, 34, of Monticello, with Criminally Negligent Homicide, a Class E Felony, for leaving a two-year old child unattended inside her 2012 Ford Explorer on July 16, 2024, for several hours with the vehicle turned off and the windows rolled-up, thereby causing the child’s tragic death. It was reported that  the temperature exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit that day. Her maximum exposure under the law is an indeterminate sentence of one and one-third to four years’ incarceration in state prison.

Carter was arrested on August 1, 2024, and was arraigned before the Honorable Douglas Solomon of the Village of Monticello Justice Court and remanded to the Sullivan County Jail in lieu of $50,000 cash/$150,000 insurance company bond/$300,000 partially secured monetary bail. The New York State Police spearheaded this investigation with the assistance of the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office and the Village of Monticello Police Department.

The filing of an indictment is a mere accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.