An unlicensed day-care provider in North St. Paul with a history of watching too many children has been sentenced in the strangulation death of a 6-month-old girl.

Amy Jo Englebretson, 45, was sentenced Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court to a term of slightly less than 4½ years after pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of Susannah Crider on Aug. 8, 2016. The daughter of Darrell and Erin Crider, of North St. Paul, had become entangled in the straps of her car seat and died less than an hour later.

Englebretson will serve the first 2¼ years in prison and the balance on supervised release. Her sentence also calls for her to make restitution of more than $8,000.

Englebretson explained to police that she had put Susannah in the car seat for a nap and the strap was too loose. The infant "got strangled up," she told police, according to the criminal complaint.

When police arrived, she had nine other children in her care: two 6-year-olds, three 3-year-olds, a 22-month-old, a 17-month-old and two 16-month-olds. Englebretson was the only caregiver in the home.

Parents who brought their children to Englebretson told police that she had informed them that she would have four to six children at a time.

Englebretson allegedly told police that she had been operating her day care for less than a year and wasn't licensed but was on a waiting list with the county. However, authorities determined that she had not applied for a license and that there was no waiting list.

Englebretson was licensed between 2000 to 2015 in Polk and St. Croix counties in Wisconsin, where she was cited six times for violating the number of children allowed in her care (no more than six).

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482