APPLETON (NBC 26) -- An Appleton mother was sentenced to 17 years in prison Thursday, nearly three years after police found her daughter who was living with special needs dead in their home.
Police officers said in May 2017 when they got to Nicole Gussert's home on Winnebago Ave. in Appleton, it smelled like rotting food, human waste and death.
That's where they found 13-year-old Brianna Gussert dead.
According to court documents, Brianna needed constant care. Care, the documents say, Nicole neglected to provide.
In an interview with officers, Nicole said she couldn't remember the last time she had fed or changed Brianna.
An autopsy shows Brianna died of sepsis, a blood infection that can be cause by neglect.
Nicole Gussert entered a no contest plea to a charge of child neglect resulting in death as well as a drug charge after police say she tried to sell Adderall. Her prison sentence will be followed by 12 years of extended supervision.
