A Pennsylvania mother is going to prison for kidnapping her 6-year-old daughter and transporting her to a remote location where she dosed her with opiates and fentanyl because she believed a serial killer — who turned out to be nonexistent — was after them.
Skye Naggy, 32, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison on Friday after pleading guilty but mentally ill in January to attempted homicide, aiding suicide, aggravated assault, kidnapping, interference with child custody, and endangering the welfare of a child, according to a press release from the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.
Naggy kidnapped her daughter in November 2022 after failing to attend mental health treatment. She left handwritten letters stating that she needed opioids to protect herself and her child because God had told her she would die soon, according to prosecutors.
Naggy took the child to a remote area on a trail near Loyalhanna Lake, outside of Pittsburgh, and forced her to take drugs. Police tracked Naggy’s phone and rescued her before she died. Officers discovered a Bible next to them. The girl tested positive for both opiates and fentanyl.
Investigators determined that Naggy was suffering from schizophrenia. During her sentencing, the mother admitted to having mental health issues.
“My only goal was to save my daughter from a serial killer,” she stated, according to a courtroom report by the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. “I didn’t know I had schizophrenia until it was too late. If an unstoppable killer pursued you, wouldn’t you devise an escape plan? “I promise I was only trying to save us.”
Prosecutors said Naggy will continue to receive treatment while in prison. According to the Tribune Review, the state argued at the sentencing hearing that if she were released now, she would pose a threat to herself or others.
Her defense attorneys requested leniency.
“She has no criminal record and was not involved in the mental health system prior to this break,” her attorney, Wayne McGrew, reportedly stated. “She should be in a treatment facility, specifically a hospital. It is a terrible thing that happened, but so is mental illness.”
McGrew requested five years in prison, while prosecutors sought 15 to 40 years.
In the end, the judge split the difference and sentenced Naggy to between 10 and 20 years. She was given credit for approximately 900 days already served.
The girl is currently under the care of a relative.
