DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A Douglas County judge has sentenced a mother who pled guilty to her child’s death after exposing them to freezing conditions earlier this year, according to the district attorney's office.
Uriha Ridge, 36, pled guilty to murder, first-degree cruelty to children, possession of a scheduled two controlled substances, and public drunkenness on Thursday. She will now spend the rest of her life behind bars after the judge sentenced her.
The child's death happened on Jan. 16. The district attorney's office said that Ridge discovered that the family was dropped off at Foxhall by an Uber Driver at midnight on Jan. 16, where Ridge booked a room for 10 nights on Jan. 14.
The driver added that they attempted to drop the family near the resort rooms. Still, Ridge told them to keep driving past the resort and down towards the trails. Before Ridge left the car, the driver saw her lick a white powdery substance from the car seat, which was determined to be cocaine after field testing. Prosecutors also said that Ridge had marijuana in her possession when the family was found.
Ridge allegedly left the resort hotel off Capps Ferry Road in Douglasville around midnight on Jan. 16 and did not call for help until 11:51 a.m. the same morning—nearly a full 12 hours later. When she called 911, she reported her two young children lost in the woods on the Foxhall Resort's property.
"It was also discovered that Ridge’s cell phone was active and in working order, so she could have called 911 at any point during the night while she and her children were in the woods," the district attorney's office said in a news release.
Law enforcement rushed to the scene to find the children, but before they arrived, resort workers found the family in the woods off the trail before officers and deputies arrived.
According to the district attorney, the workers said they found Ridge sitting on the ground with her 7-year-old son standing beside her and her 3-year-old daughter, Alina Paschal, cold and unresponsive, face down in the mud a short distance away in the woods.
The workers then loaded Ridge and the children onto ATVs to get them back to the lodge. Both children were taken to the hospital. Paschal died from hypothermia when they arrived at the hospital. The 7-year-old was in critical condition and was treated for hypothermia and dehydration, according to the district attorney's office.
The Douglas County district attorney said the 7-year-old told law enforcement he and his sister were in the woods all night with their mom. Authorities added that the son tried to warm his sister by covering her in leaves and told his mother multiple times they were cold, but Ridge was quiet.
The district attorney said in a news release that he noticed his sister's breathing sounded funny before they were found.
Deputies said the children were “soaking wet,” and the temperatures had been below freezing throughout the night. Responders rushed Ridge and her two children to the hospital, and at some point after that, her 3-year-old died from what deputies said was exposure to the conditions.
Deputies believe the drugs Ridge was on are responsible for her taking her 3-year-old and 7-year-old children into the woods, dressed in thin clothes and staying out in the woods in the rain and sub-freezing temperatures for hours before her toddler died and the young child was hospitalized.
The district attorney's office added that the charges in the guilty plea also stem from an incident in 2022 where police charged Uriha Ridge with several child cruelty charges in an incident at the Thunderzone Bowling and Family Entertainment Center in Douglasville.
Previous arrest warrants suggest Ridge allegedly punched her older child, who survived the freezing overnight conditions. The warrants also accuse her of forcefully dragging him by the neck and slapping him multiple times in the face with an open hand during the incident in 2022. The warrants also further alleged Ridge had dropped her now-deceased younger child.
In November 2022, a judge granted Ridge a $5,000 bond in that case, which was later revoked on Monday. Police charged her with first-degree cruelty to children, second-degree cruelty to children, simple battery, and public drunkenness in that case. Prosecutors said the mother violated her bond conditions several times, including being accused and charged with a more serious felony crime.
“The loss of this young child is devastatingly tragic and entirely avoidable. Our hearts break for what she and her brother went through. Today, her mother was held accountable. We hope that others will avoid the toxic mix of drugs, alcohol, and indifference that led to this great loss,” said District Attorney Dalia Racine.