Mother of child who died in hot car pleads guilty to manslaughter in Bangor

BANGOR — A Pennsylvania woman has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of her 3-year-old daughter, who was found deceased in a hot car at a Milford convenience store last August.

Kelly Sanders Brown, 41, entered the plea Friday in Penobscot County Superior Court. Under a deal with prosecutors, she has agreed to serve between 20 and 25 years in prison. A judge has taken the agreement under advisement and will issue a ruling at sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.

Brown and her daughter, Fiona, were visiting family in Maine from Havertown, Pennsylvania. They had been camping before stopping at the convenience store on Aug. 9, 2025, according to court records.

Police said Brown told them she left Fiona in the car around 2 p.m. that Saturday to throw away trash, then claimed she fell into the river behind the gas station and was carried downstream. However, officers noted her clothes were dry when they interviewed her. Surveillance footage later showed Brown had left the parking lot around 6 a.m. — several hours earlier than she reported.

The child's grandmother called for a welfare check after being unable to reach Brown. Officers arrived to find Fiona and the family dog dead inside the vehicle.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Silverstein said Brown suffered from mental health issues that affected her judgment that day. He noted she had stopped taking her medication after her doctor's office closed.

"She was suffering from mental health issues that were clouding her judgment and perception, and distracted her on that day," Silverstein said. "She can't even believe that it happened, and that it happened at her hand."

According to a police affidavit, Brown's mother told investigators her daughter had been hallucinating, hearing voices of shamans and seeing people who were not there. She also expressed concerns about Brown's recent social media activity.

Silverstein said Brown had no criminal history and that people close to her had noticed unusual behavior before the incident. By October, following her arrest, Brown resumed taking her medication, he said.

The attorney said his client is willing to accept responsibility but believes 20 years is the most reasonable sentence.

"The death of her daughter is worse than a punishment that any judge could impose," Silverstein said.

A spokesperson for the Maine Attorney General's Office declined to comment on the case Friday.