Florida mom sentenced to 13 years for starving baby to death

[News_Editor]

Florida mom sentenced to 13 years for starving baby to death

2011-04-26 11:21:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

KEY LARGO, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) -- A Florida mom was sentenced to 13 years in state prison on Monday for starving her 13-month-old baby to death, local media reported.

Amy Stephenson, 30, has already served more than a year in jail between April 2008 and May 2010 after being arrested in connection with the death of her 13-month-old daughter Jasmine. She was released after an appeals court overturned her first conviction, in which she was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Jasmine was born three months prematurely in 2005 and suffered numerous medical problems that required her to undergo several operations while remaining hospitalized for around six months, the Miami Herald reported. She died on September 6, 2006, weighing only 6 pounds, 9 ounces.

Stephenson, who pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter before Monday's sentencing, had rejected a deal before her first trial in 2008 that would have resulted in a prison term of only 5 years.

Stephenson's first trial and subsequent guilty verdict was overturned by the Third District Court of Appeal because then-Assistant State Attorney Catherine Vogel had asked Stephenson whether she had considered aborting Jasmine. That, in the court's opinion, prejudiced the jury.

The mother, who still has two other children and now has a tattoo on her leg that reads "In our hearts, Jasmine", will get credit for her time already served in jail.

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