Rachel M. Foose, 33, of West Penn Township, attempted to drown her 1-month old daughter because she "just couldn't deal with it."

She asked Judge Jacqueline L. Russell to drop the charges because she voluntarily stopped herself from drowning her baby.Foose pleaded guilty but mentally ill to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child. She was sentenced to five years of probation by Schuylkill County Judge John E. Domalakes.He also ordered her to continue to seek mental health treatment "to avoid incidents like this in the future." She was allowed to have her daughter for visits.Foose could have faced up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, according to Domalakes.Thomas John Petrousky, 55, was found guilty of first degree murder and other miscellaneous charges in March for the murder of his roommate, David R. Halaburda, two years earlier.Petrousky's defense attorney, Michael Stine, argued that Petrousky was insane at the time of the murder in their West Mahanoy Township home.Psychiatrist Larry A. Rotenberg testified that Petrousky suffers from schizo-effective disorder along with other health ailments and has a low IQ."What the case comes down to is mental illness," said Stine in his closing arguments.The jury found that Petrousky was guilty of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, possessing instrument of crime, recklessly endangering another person and harassment, two of aggravated assault and three of simple assault.Christopher John Barber, 46, of Plainfield, Illinois, was charged with homicide in connection to the death of his son, Christopher Kostenbader. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after shaking the 2-month-old victim in 1992.Christopher died on May 5, 2015. The assault by Barber was determined as the cause of death. Christopher was on a ventilator and was fed through a feeding tube for the duration of his life after Barber shook him as a 2-month-old and dropped him onto a couch.Barber pleaded guilty to various charges, which included aggravated assault in 1992 and was sentenced to five to 10 years in jail.Stanley E. Kralik was found guilty in June for third-degree murder of Corey M. Samuels. Samuels was killed in the woods off Miner Street in Coaldale on Jan. 20, 2014. Oliver L. Trizarri, who was a co-conspirator, plead guilty to the charges of conspiracy and third-degree murder in February.Kralik and Trizarri were suspected to have lured Samuels in the woods on the night of the incident. They beat him to death with a shovel. Samuels' remains were found on Sept. 6, 2014.Kralik testified that the killing was Trizarri's idea and that he had nothing to do with it. When questioned why he did not call the police after witnessing Trizarri swinging the shovel at Samuels, Kralik said he did not call 911 because Trizarri "had a weapon in his hands" and that he did not want to be involved.Trizarri testified that the murder was Kralik's idea because he wanted to get back at Samuels for allegedly raping his girlfriend in 2013 and for his derogatory comments about women.Kralik and Trizarri took Samuels' wallet and cellphone after the incident. They burned the wallet and threw away the phone, but Kralik kept a rosary pendant, which two witnesses testified that Kralik showed them the pendant at his house.The jury found Kralik guilty of all of the charges except first-degree murder.Samuels' family was relieved to have the verdict brought to closure.Kralik was sentenced to a total of 20 to 40 years in jail. Trizarri, who received a lowered sentence time in exchange for testifying in Kralik's case, is serving 15 to 30 years behind bars.Jane E. Schreiner, 70, of McAdoo, shot her husband of 19 years, but claims she never meant to fire the gun. Her defense lawyer, Joseph P. Nahas, asked Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin to throw out the first and third degree murder charges as there is no evidence that she acted maliciously or with intent to kill when the incident occurred on Aug. 4.The charges of first-degree murder, criminal homicide, voluntary manslaughter along with other charges were sent to Schuylkill County court.Gary Foley Jr., 32, of Bangor, was arraigned in Northampton County court on charges of criminal homicide and four counts of endangering the welfare of children.Foley moved in with 17-month-old Kannah Dew's mother a week before the incident happened after the couple had met online.The trailer was filthy and did not have heat or running water, holes in the floors, piles of trash throughout the mobile home and was infested with cockroaches.Foley called 911 after Kannah started to choke on a hot dog, but autopsy reports showed that Kannah died of skull fractures cause by blunt force trauma.Jordan Marie Stravinsky, 21, of Ringtown was charges with several felonies, including kidnapping and attempting murder in the first degree.The attempted murder of the Union Township man was done by Stravinsky and co-conspirator Jonathan Ford of Barnesville. The pair beat and forced the victim to strip naked.Ford fired a shot at the man at which point he ran from the scene. The victim suffered fractures to his hands and fingers and a chip fracture to his skull as well as bruising on his back consistent with being struck by a gun barrel.- Amanda Treible