Hutchinson woman will face trial in baby’s death

? A Hutchinson woman whose baby died after she was left too close to a hair dryer will stand trial on second-degree murder charges.

Nineteen-year-old Brigit L. Hippen was bound over for trial Tuesday after a preliminary hearing in Reno County District Court.

Prosecutors say her 3-month-old daughter died of hyperthermia in February 2010 after Hippen left her in a bassinet near a hairdryer and then fell asleep. They say the death was an accident, but Hippen acted with extreme indifference to her child.

Hippen’s attorney, David Harger, says Hippen used the hairdryer to warm and comfort her baby, and had taken care of the child when she was sick in the weeks before her death.

The Hutchinson News reported Hippen’s will be arraigned March 7.