Stepmother of Anna Celeste Lowe pleads guilty to manslaughter

Nearly two years after a 5-year-old girl died in an Elm Grove mobile home, her stepmother has entered a guilty plea of manslaughter.

Catherine Lowe, 36, was initially charged with second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Her husband Wesley Lowe, 34,  is charged with negligent homicide.

Jury selection was scheduled to start Monday morning in a Bossier Parish courtroom but Catherine Lowe plead guilty to manslaughter, which carries a lesser sentence.

Anna Celeste Lowe died Jan. 13, 2011. Police say Catherine Lowe's children told investigators she followed the girl into a bathroom, they heard a loud thump and found Celeste lying on the floor, vomiting and in pain.

The young girl was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital the next morning.