A North Carolina woman, who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of her 3-year-old son, was not awarded jail time Monday.

Jamie Lyn Basinger, 24, from Morganton, North Carolina, reportedly passed out on drugs as her son, Landyn Melton, died of hypothermia after freezing on the front porch of her house in March. Basinger accepted a plea deal Monday, the day her trial was supposed to begin, following which she was given a split sentence that included 36 months of supervised probation and between 19 and 32 months of prison time.

According to the Morganton News Herald, prosecutors also dropped an additional felony child abuse charge against her as a part of the deal. Judge Nathaniel Poovey gave Basinger credit for the 245 days she was in custody and said she would have to serve prison time only if she violated her probation.

The boy was found dead on March 15 — a day after celebrating his third birthday — by the police after a neighbor called them to report a toddler lying on the porch. Basinger’s boyfriend, Joshua Steffey, answered the door before getting Basinger from inside the home. The couple admitted to taking drugs days before Melton died.

ABC affiliate WJBF-TV cited prosecutors saying Basinger had admitted to using meth amphetamine two days before her son died and was smoking marijuana the night before.

Frank Webster, Basinger’s attorney, said she had admitted to negligence and cooperated with the authorities because she wanted answers for herself.

“She didn’t understand this — it didn’t make sense to her,” Webster said in court. “When this happened, when she saw Landyn laying on the porch, she broke down in tears — falling on the ground. She’s really never stopped crying since, your honor.”

He also said Basinger never intended to hurt Landyn, but suffered from an addiction problem. Basinger loved her son and had it not been for the drug usage, Melton’s death would have been ruled an accident, he added.

However, a majority of the people in the community were against Basinger. “Overwhelmingly, as you would expect, the community is calling for her blood,” Webster said.

Basinger told deputies that she last saw her son at 10:30 p.m. March 14 when she put her son to bed. Prosecutors said fingerprints found on the front door indicated that the toddler attempted to get back in the home before freezing to death. Temperatures on the morning of Melton’s death reportedly reached 20 degrees but felt much colder due to a wind chill.

Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lippert said about Basinger: “While she was passed out inside the home, by her own admission sleeping harder than normal, Landyn was freezing to death.”

“She was supposed to be supervising this child,” Lippert added. “He had just turned 3, he was outside. By her own admission, she was sleeping harder than normal. She didn’t hear him — didn’t hear him leave the room, didn’t hear him leave the house, didn’t hear him banging on the door. She was asleep while he was freezing to death.”

Jamie’s family said they were not sure what time Jamie will be released, but they were ready to see her. Her mother Brenda Basinger, said the family still had a lot of unanswered questions and did not find closure in spite of her daughter’s release.

“She’s going to have to live with this the rest of her life,” Brenda said. “She’s going to have a battle — we all are.”

The judge Monday ordered Basinger to comply with all conditions of a substance abuse assessment, perform 72 hours of community service and adhere to all orders from the Department of Social Services regarding her other child, Morganton News Herald said.

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