Metro

HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Tyrone mother started crying in Blair County Court on Friday when President Judge Wade A. Kagarise said he would impose a probationary sentence to address the mother’s felony offense of endangering the welfare of a child.

Ashley M. Cowher, 31, who heard Kagarise say in March that he would consider a county sentence, said she told her children goodbye before coming to court in case she was sentenced to jail and didn’t return home.

“To claim neglect in this case was crazy,” Cowher said outside court, where she remained relieved to get a sentence of five years’ probation. “That just wasn’t the case.”

Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Thomas, who in March proposed a state prison sentence of 18 months to seven years for Cowher, reiterated that request Friday before Kagarise said he was imposing probation.

“I stand by my request,” Thomas said after the sentencing hearing concluded. “Maybe she’ll have to commit a few more crimes before she’s put in prison.”

Cowher’s criminal history included drug delivery convictions that led to a sentence of five years’ probation imposed in 2021. She also had a one-year probationary sentence imposed for defiant trespass.

In court Friday, Kagarise told Cowher that incarceration will be realistic if she returns to court with child welfare, drug offenses or any criminal behavior during the newly imposed five years of probation, starting Friday.

“This shouldn’t be interpreted as an opportunity or reason to ignore the seriousness of what happened here,” the judge said.

Thomas justified his request for a state prison sentence by pointing to the lack of dental care over several months.

State police at Hollidaysburg got involved in the case in May 2024 after Betar Dental contacted Childline with concerns. The boy was in the dental office in October 2023, when decay was identified on 14 of his 20 teeth. He was scheduled for dental surgery in November, but the November surgery didn’t happen, police said, because the mother failed to secure the required physical clearance from a pediatrician.

“It was a very low bar for something that should have been obtained,” Thomas said.

Kagarise said that when he reviewed dental records from the October 2023 visit, he didn’t see any notation “of an emergency situation or that immediate action” was required, but he acknowledged a notation that surgery was needed.

Charges against Cowher indicated that in May 2024, the investigating state trooper intervened by securing a dental appointment that was kept. But two subsequent appointments for surgery were canceled, prompting the trooper to relay that information to the county Children, Youth & Families office and to file charges of a felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangerment.

Kagarise said his review of the CYF records indicated that the mother spoke with a CYF worker about needing a pediatrician’s approval prior to the dental surgery and that CYF was going to assist with a referral.

Thomas also referenced a portion of dental and CYF records stating that the child teeth were causing him pain, something the mother denied.

“Fourteen of 20 teeth had decay. Fourteen of 20 teeth were black,” Thomas told the judge. “I can’t see that this was anything more than torture for this child.”

Assistant Public Defender Dani McCormick told Kagarise in court on Friday that CYF has since closed Cowher’s case. She also said that Cowher’s probation officer submitted a recommendation for probation instead of prison.

Cowher told Kagarise that if he sentenced her to prison, her children would have to stay with family members who have their own health issues.

“Me going to prison isn’t going to do anything for anybody right now,” Cowher said.

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