Thompson sentenced for role in death of 6-year-old

Last month, Sheila Thompson, 33, of Lac du Flambeau was sentenced to serve 14 years in the Wisconsin prison system after pleading no contest to one count of child neglect with the consequence of death. Thompson’s prison term consists of eight years of initial confinement and six years of extended supervision.

Vilas County circuit judge Martha Milanowski also ordered a number of conditions for Thompson’s sentence, according to court records. The conditions include cooperation with rules of agent, compliance with treatment recommendations, AODA (Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse treatment programs), mental health, parenting classes, and any payment of Department of Corrections supervision fees. 

Thompson was charged as a party to a crime alongside George Poupart, 29, after police arrived to their Lac du Flambeau residence on Dec 3, 2021, and found Thompson’s six-year-old son lying in the living room unresponsive. 

According to the criminal complaint filed in June of 2022, investigators noted the child appeared abnormally thin and pale, wearing a soiled diaper and was infested with lice. 

A Dec. 8 autopsy showed the child’s body to have weighed 39 pounds (below the first percentile for six-year-old boys) and the cause of death was believed to be due to complications from diabetic ketoacidosis — symptoms known to consist of excessive thirst, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Thompson entered a no contest plea to the charge in June.

Poupart entered a no contest plea in July. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25 at 1 p.m. in Vilas County Circuit Court.

The Class D felony of neglecting a child with the consequence of death carries maximum penalties of $100,000 in fines or 25 years in prison, or both.

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].