Seattle woman sentenced for starving baby to death inside low-barrier homeless shelter

A Seattle woman will spend approximately four years in prison for exposing her newborn baby to drugs and allowing her to starve to death inside a homeless shelter in South Lake Union.

Ashlee "Montana" Creighton, 35, accepted a guilty plea to manslaughter in the first degree, which reduced the original charge of murder in the second degree.

According to court records, Creighton gave birth to the baby in May 2024 when she was living in the Civic Hotel, a former motel that was being operated as a low-barrier homeless shelter by CoLEAD.

Investigators say Creighton was a drug user and exposed the baby - identified in court records as A.C. - to fentanyl and meth while allowing her to go without nourishment.

In court, Creighton apologized for the girl's death and acknowledged how her fentanyl addiction derailed her life.

"Addiction is a terrible disease; I hate myself for the terrible shell of a human I became," Creighton said. "My daughter has given me the gift of sobriety. I am a good person; I am not perfect, but I am committed to getting better every day. My baby girl continues to teach me faith, love, kindness, and hope.”

Creighton's attorney, Margaret McGinty, asked a judge to release her on time served, acknowledging she had made "horrible, horrible decisions" but has progressed while in custody.

"She found herself in a bad situation and made bad choices," McGinty told Judge William Dixon, adding that continuing to incarcerate Creighton would not serve any good.

"The elephant in the room here is that being a drug-addicted parent in this state is not per se a crime," McGinty said. "There's really no evidence the baby suffered, there's an assumption the baby suffered."

Prosecutors asked for a prison term of around eight years.

"For that duration of her short life, she suffered," Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Anderson said. "In that five-day period where this baby suffered, Creighton took care of herself. She took care of her own needs. She ate, she socialized, she journaled, she made sure she had drugs. She did not provide for her baby."

Anderson pointed out that there were social workers at the facility who could have quickly called for medical help if they knew the baby had been born.

"The defendant knew that A.C. needed medical attention, that she was premature, and drug addicted," Anderson wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "Ms. Creighton knew that CoLEAD social workers would get medical attention for her baby but she also knew that care came with consequences. She concealed the birth, knowing the risk because hospitalization would likely take her away from her drug use."

RELATED | Hotel owner sues Seattle, King County over contamination after homeless shelter lease

Investigators say the baby was born on May 18, 2024 and died on May 23, 2024. Police weren't called to the hotel until May 25, 2024 when they were asked to assist the Seattle Fire Department for a call of a stillborn child.

Officers noted Creighton's room smelled of decomposition , and observed signs that the baby had not just been born as was indicated in the 911 call.

A police officer reported there was no evidence of a recent birth in the room, and officers located a calendar with an entry on May 18 that read "baby girl born". Another entry on the calendar dated May 23 stated "Baby Girl RIP".

A photo of the calendar included in court documents shows the entry on the date of the baby's death that says "1 AM rose to the heavens on the beautiful bright full flower moon to claim her home in the sky. Fly high my precious star maiden goddess of purity."

There are other unintelligible sentences written on the calendar that make reference to the Moon, Jupiter, Neptune, and Sagittarius.

Investigators obtained a warrant and searched Creighton's cell phone, which contained photos and videos of A.C. in the days after her birth.

In a 17-second video on May 18, Creighton can be heard saying, "OK. So. Surprise", with a baby crying in the background.

The baby is visible in the video with indications that she had just been born, and then the female's voice states, "Oh my god, I can't believe this."

Text messages from Creighton's phone showed she was talking about the baby with another woman in the building.

One message read, "I was just knocking on your door to check on you and see how that 'little (pro)noun' was doing, AKA 'she who shall not be named!' Haha!"

Investigators obtained her internet search history, which included the following searches:

In the sentencing memorandum, Anderson noted that Creighton had given birth to other children before.

"It is not reasonable for Ms. Creighton to argue that she didn't know the risk," Anderson said. "Ms. Creighton blames everyone around her, the housing system, CoLEAD, and claims ignorance of risk that any reasonable person would clearly be aware ... despite being in a CoLEAD facility with 24-7 access to staff, resources, and a working cell phone, (Creighton) did nothing as A.C. starved to death."

Creighton's mother, Malia Zebrowski, told the court about the impact addiction has had on her family.

“She disappeared from me and my family into the fentanyl life," Zebrowski said. “I never met my granddaughter. I didn’t even know my daughter was pregnant; she was so ashamed. She was into the fentanyl drug. I told her, ‘Don’t you ever get into that’.”

After hearing from both sides, Judge Dixon imposed a 78-month prison sentence, followed by 36 months of community custody.

With credit for time already served, Creighton will likely be eligible for release in three to four years.

“That baby is dependent on you for everything they get; the buck stops with you," Dixon said.

Seattle and King County were leasing the hotel to serve as a homeless shelter between 2020 and 2024. KOMO News reported last year that the owners of the Civic Hotel are suing the city for drug contamination and failing to supervise the people living there.