Lawrence mom guilty of manslaughter in death of her 5-year-old

A 25-year-old Lawrence woman has been found guilty of manslaughter in connection with the death of her 5-year-old child in April.

Rebecca Lynn Wynne pleaded no contest to a charge of reckless involuntary manslaughter and two counts of aggravated child endangerment in Douglas County District Court Thursday. Wynne’s child died after ingesting opiates found in a purple plastic Easter egg on April 27 at the home of Wynne’s parents in the 1500 block of Delaware, according to prosecutors.

Lawrence police detectives and coroner Dr. Erik Mitchell investigated the case, according to the court records. Prosecutors said the coroner found the cause of death to be an overdose of morphine, and the child’s vomit tested positive for Oxycontin.

The two child endangerment charges involve Wynne’s two other children, ages 6 and 4. Prosecutors said all three of the children were playing with morphine and Oxycontin pills that Wynne obtained the day before one of them was found dead. The two remaining children are now in protective custody.

Wynne is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. Dec. 14.