Ashley Fagan, the mother who allowed her boyfriend to beat her six-year-old daughter to death, has been sentenced to 18 to 23½ years in prison. The sentence comes after Fagan pleaded guilty to several charges, including permitting child abuse, endangering children, involuntary manslaughter, and obstructing justice. She will spend the next two decades behind bars for her role in the tragic death of little Eva Bretz.
The case unfolded on April 13, 2025, when police responded to a 911 call from the family home. When they arrived, they found Eva in critical condition and began efforts to save her. Unfortunately, despite being rushed to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, she was pronounced dead just six hours later.
The autopsy revealed shocking details, including injuries that appeared to be the result of chronic abuse. Eva had bruising, ligature marks around her neck, a lacerated liver, and broken ribs and pelvis, which had been healing for weeks or even months prior to her death. Fentanyl was also found in her system.
Initially, Fagan told police that Eva had been playing outside late the previous night and got caught in a tree branch. She claimed the girl’s sweatshirt restricted her breathing, but CCTV footage from the complex contradicted this story. Fagan eventually admitted to lying, and further investigation uncovered disturbing text messages between Fagan and her boyfriend, Blake Hutchinson, where they discussed covering up Eva’s injuries from as early as October 2024.
At Fagan’s plea hearing, Eva’s grandfather, Kevin Coles, spoke out. “The one person on this planet that should have had her best interest at heart did not take any steps to protect her,” Coles said. “It could have been done so easily.” He emphasized that Fagan had failed to protect her daughter from the abuse, which could have been prevented with even the most basic actions.
Fagan’s attorney, Terry Sherman, argued that while Fagan didn’t physically harm Eva, she had failed in her duty as a mother to protect her child. Fagan’s boyfriend, Hutchinson, also faced charges in Eva’s death, but he tragically died by suicide before he could be arrested.
The court heard from Judge Richard Brown, who was visibly moved as he sentenced Fagan. As a father of three and a grandfather of five, Judge Brown found the case especially difficult to process. He called Fagan’s failure to protect her daughter “completely unjustifiable” and “heinous.” “I cannot imagine taking a life or watching while someone else takes the life of a child, particularly your own child,” he said.
Fagan’s sentence reflects the serious nature of her crimes, and the case has drawn widespread attention for the unimaginable abuse little Eva endured and the mother who stood by without intervening.