Life in jail for mother who microwaved baby
A mother who killed her month-old baby daughter by burning her in a microwave was sentenced to life in prison today.
China Arnold’s actions were a “heinous atrocity” which was “shocking and utterly abhorrent for a civilised society”, Ohio Common Pleas judge Mary Wiseman said.
Arnold, 28, intentionally put her baby Paris Talley in the microwave and cooked her to death after a row with her boyfriend in 2005 over whether he was the biological father, the court in Dayton, Ohio, heard.
A jury found her guilty of aggravated murder last month.
Today, Judge Wiseman said: “No adjectives exist to adequately describe this heinous atrocity.”
“This act is shocking and utterly abhorrent for a civilised society.”
In a statement, Arnold, who watched the sentencing in a room on a monitor, said: “I am innocent of these charges.”
Her daughter was pronounced dead on August 30, 2005, at the Children’s Medical Centre in Dayton.
But David Franceschelli, prosecuting, told the court that Arnold has shown no genuine remorse.
“The only remorse here is she got caught,” he said.
US prosecutors said Arnold intentionally put her baby in the microwave and cooked the child to death after a row with her boyfriend.
The baby’s DNA was found inside the microwave in Arnold’s apartment, prosecutors said.
Arnold, her four children and her then-boyfriend Terrell Talley lived in a flat at the Parkside Homes housing complex, which has since been condemned.
It was Arnold’s second trial after her first ended in a mistrial when new witnesses surfaced.
Jon Paul Rion, defending Arnold, asked for a third trial and said a former cellmate who said Arnold confessed had now changed her story.
Mr Rion said he has also found additional witnesses who point to someone else being responsible for killing the baby.
The judge has not yet ruled on the motion for a new trial.
Mr Rion said Arnold loved her baby “with all of her heart and more” and regrets drinking the night of her baby’s death to the point of not remembering what happened.
“We have a mother who has lost her own daughter,” he said.
“That will plague her and follow her like a shadow for the rest of her life and into the next.”
