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NIGERIAN-US WOMAN GETS 80 YEARS FOR DAY CARE FIRE
A Texas woman has been sentenced to 80 years in prison for the murder of one
of four children killed in a fire at her home day care.
Jessica Tata, 24, was convicted last week in connection with the death of
16-month-old Elias Castillo.
Authorities say Elias was one of seven children whom Tata left unsupervised at
her home while she went to a nearby Target store.
Prosecutors say she left a pan of oil atop a stovetop burner that ignited the
February 2011 blaze.
Three other children were seriously injured.
"Nobody wins in this situation," Elias' great-grandmother, Patty Sparks, said
after the sentence was announced.
"My heart goes out to the Tata family and those precious mothers and fathers who
lost their babies."
Tata will have to serve 30 years of her sentence before she is eligible for
parole and was ordered to pay a $US10,000 ($A9,674) fine.
Jurors deliberated her punishment for seven hours over two days.
She had no visible reaction after the sentence was announced.
Tata's lawyers contended she was a good person who loved children but made a
terrible mistake.
Prosecutors argued she was an irresponsible day care owner who had doomed the
children when she left them alone.
They said Tata had repeatedly left kids she was responsible for unsupervised and
it was only a matter of time before her actions led to tragedy.
Defence lawyer Mike DeGeurin said he still believes Tata should not have been
tried for murder because the deaths were an accident.
One of the surviving children, Makayla Dickerson, stood next to Baldassano as he
spoke.
Makayla, whose three-year-old brother Shomari died in the fire, showed reporters
scars the fire left on her right forearm.
Tata still faces three more counts of felony murder in relation to the other
children who died, and three counts of abandoning a child and two counts of
reckless injury to a child in relation to the three who were hurt. Baldassano
said prosecutors planned to pursue trials on the remaining felony murder
charges.
-Source: Yahoo News!
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