SAWYER COUNTY — The Court has sentenced the first of two who received felony charges in 2022, including homicide, physical abuse, and chronic neglect, in Sawyer County Circuit Court following law enforcement’s investigation into the death of a 4-year-old child in Sawyer County.
Samantha Smith and Domenic Falkner, of Hayward, WI, were each placed on high cash bonds: $2,000,000 cash for Falkner and $1,000,000 cash for Smith.
The case against Falkner settled in September 2025 with pleas of no contest to charges of child neglect and abuse and dismissal of the homicide charge against him. He is scheduled to be sentenced in May 2026.
An eight-day jury trial was scheduled in December 2025 regarding Smith’s charges; however, she appeared for a hearing on November 21, 2025, and Judge Stella accepted a settlement in her case as well.
Smith was sentenced on March 6, 2026, on her convictions of Felony Physical Abuse of a Child-Repeated Acts Causing Great Bodily Harm and Felony Chronic Neglect of a Child - Consequence is Death.
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Last Update: Mar 10, 2026 11:01 am CDT
