Woman pleads guilty in endangerment case

Markle eligible to participate in state Drug Treatment Program

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- An Altoona woman whose children summoned help when she overdosed at home in June is expected to be transferred to a state prison, where she will be eligible to participate in the state Drug Treatment Program.

On Thursday, Rose Mary Markle, 29, currently an inmate at the Blair County Prison entered guilty pleas in county court to three counts of endangering the welfare of a child for a negotiated sentence of two to four years' incarceration, followed by five years' probation.

The sentence allows Markle to be considered for the state Drug Treatment Program. Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Thomas told Senior Judge Jolene G. Kopriva that his office would offer no opposition to that option.

The decision on Markle's entry rests with the state Department of Corrections.

On June 21, Altoona police found Markle on the floor of her residence on the 200 block of Willow Avenue.

The juvenile children told police they found Markle and Colton William Flannery, 30, both unconscious on the first floor and tried to wake them by pouring water on them. Police said the children reported moving Flannery into a chair when he started to wake. When Markle didn't wake, police said they summoned a family member. Despite having received two doses of Narcan, she remained unresponsive and an ambulance was summoned. After treatment, she was taken to the Blair County Prison where she has remained.

Flannery, who was also charged with child endangerment, has been free on unsecured bail. His charges are scheduled for review in court on Sept. 25.

At the time of the June 21 incident, Markle was on parole for a county prison sentence handed down in 2022 to address charges of endangering the welfare of a child and driving under the influence. Altoona police filed those charges after Markle, in May 2022, was found passed out in a running car at the Chestnut Avenue Sheetz with a 3-month-old child in the backseat. When police attempted to wake her, police reported that she took her foot off the brake and crashed into the yellow barrier in front of the store.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.