Ashley Renee Couch pleads guilty after throwing baby in snow bank

Ashley Renee Couch will be sentenced in May.

​Ashley Renee Couch has pleaded guilty to child endangerment, a little more than a month after a bizarre episode in which she threw her baby into a snowbank during a heated argument with the baby's father.

That man, 19-year-old Deontae Thurmond, was later arrested on suspicion of domestic assault, but not before news of the abandoned, barely clothed, and frozen baby made headlines all over town and beyond.

The two had argued all morning, 21-year-old Couch told police. When Thurmond snatched some money from her and left, she took off after him with the baby in her arms. As she ran, the baby fell--but she kept going anyway.

Witness Keith St. Pierre told us that as he stepped off a bus that frigid March morning he saw the pair arguing. Then he watched, stunned, as Couch ditched the baby and ran after Thurmond. He picked up the cold and unresponsive infant and called 911.

By the time police arrived, Couch had returned and taken the baby back. Medics rushed the poor little thing to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she had a body temperature of 95.8 degrees and was suffering from exposure.

Couch is due to be sentenced in May. The baby was treated for hypothermia and is now in protective custody.

Location: Chicago Avenue South and 18th Street

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