Testing Ordered for Girl Who Killed Baby : Sentencing Awaits Sitter, 10, Convicted in Strangulation Case
A 10-year-old girl convicted of strangling a baby has been sent to a California Youth Authority facility for a psychological analysis.
The girl, whose name has not been released, was convicted Nov. 12 of the murder after she admitted strangling the baby. The 90-day diagnostic study will help the judge determine what sentence the child should receive, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mitch Harris said Friday.
She admitted killing the year-old daughter of her father’s live-in girlfriend while she was baby-sitting the child in his Veselich Avenue home in the Griffith Park area last Aug. 7.
“The court really needs assistance in what to do with the young lady,†Harris said. “There are no facilities equipped to handle a 10-year-old who has committed a murder.â€
The child’s sentence could range from 15 years in California Youth Authority facilities to probation, Harris said. The prosecutor said he wants to have her incarcerated.
“I’m more concerned about the community and preventing this from possibly happening again,†Harris said, saying that he believes the girl could kill again. “There’s nothing to indicate that what caused her to do this before has been rectified. There’s no psychologist saying she’s normal.â€
The killing occurred when the girl was left alone with the baby about 12:30 a.m. as her father and his girlfriend left the home to buy milk and diapers, Harris said.
Sometime during the almost two hours they were gone, the little girl “strangled the infant with her bare hands,†Harris said. She may have been jealous of the attention the baby was getting, he said.
The couple rushed the baby to Childrens Hospital when they returned home after 2 a.m., but she was dead.
The girl will be sentenced March 13 after the diagnostic study is completed.
She did not actually plead guilty last month, because guilty pleas are not taken in juvenile court. Instead she admitted to a petition that alleged the crime occurred, Harris said.
The girl was a resident of Walla Walla, Wash., and was visiting her father when the crime occurred. Her mother has come from Washington for her court appearances, Harris said.
Although he hopes to put the child in custody, Harris acknowledged the “tragic†nature of the case.
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