SAWYER COUNTY — The Court has sentenced the second of two people 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.
Domenic Falkner and Samantha Smith, of Hayward, WI, were each placed on high cash bonds: $2,000,000 cash for Falkner and $1,000,000 cash for Smith.
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.
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.
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 was sentenced at a court hearing on May 1, 2026.
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Last Update: May 05, 2026 11:05 am CDT
