A Michigan woman has been sentenced to decades in prison for killing her 2-year-old daughter after pressing the child into a couch because she “wouldn’t take a nap.”
Paige Bohne, 22, received a sentence of 18 to 45 years in prison for first-degree child abuse, along with 4 to 10 years for assault with intent to cause bodily harm, according to local reports, including Wilcox Newspapers. The sentences will run concurrently, and Bohne received credit for 406 days already served.
In July, Bohne agreed to plead no contest to the child abuse and assault charges as part of a deal that resulted in murder and conspiracy to commit child abuse charges being dismissed.
The case stems from events on Nov. 7, 2024, when Bohne called 911 to report that her daughter, Octavia Bohne, was unresponsive inside their home at Memory Lane Mobile Home Park in Sturgis, Michigan. Emergency responders arrived, but the child was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy later determined that Octavia died from suffocation.
According to prosecutors, Bohne told investigators that her daughter died “because she wouldn’t take a nap.” She admitted to pushing the toddler into a couch and holding her down “until she stopped fighting.”
St. Joseph County Prosecutor Deborah Davis described Bohne’s actions as “unconscionable,” detailing a series of decisions that led to the child’s death. Davis said Bohne did not give her daughter breakfast, aside from what she described as “a handful of melatonin gummies”—nearly three times the amount an adult would take at peak concentration.
Prosecutors said Bohne was attempting to force the child back to sleep so she could text with her boyfriend, use TikTok, and make herself food. Davis added that Bohne failed to check on the child afterward, calling the lapse in judgment difficult to comprehend.
Authorities believe Bohne went even further, placing a blanket over her daughter and holding her down forcefully, ultimately smothering her.
“The melatonin wouldn’t have killed her, the respiratory issues wouldn’t have killed her,” Davis said, according to Wilcox Newspapers. “But having her face shoved into a couch until she stopped moving—that would do it.”
Davis said prosecutors did not believe Bohne intended to kill her daughter, but emphasized that she knowingly created a dangerous situation and then attempted to minimize and rationalize her actions.
Octavia’s grandfather, Charles Bohne, described the aftermath of the child’s death as surreal and devastating.
“It’s like waking up in a nightmare,” he said, according to Kalamazoo-based CBS affiliate WWMT. “You just wish you can wake up and not be there. I just want to know what happened to her. It’s all that matters right now.”
In her obituary, Octavia was remembered as a “happy yet mischievous little girl” who was vibrant, cheerful, and always smiling. She loved posing for photos, watching Peppa the Pig and Mickey Mouse, and dancing to “Baby Shark.” She enjoyed cheese puffs, anything pink, butterflies, and cuddling—especially with her grandfather. She also shared a close bond with her aunt Alyssa, described as her favorite person.
Sturgis is located in southern Michigan, roughly a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Detroit.
