http://www.redding.com/story/news/l...s-life-prison-sentence-babys-death/858219001/A 24-year-old Redding woman convicted in August of murder in the 2014 drug-related death of her 5-day-old baby was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life in prison.
Brown, who showed no visible emotion, was also handed a three-year prison sentence for possession of heroin for sale.
Redding police have said Brown and her fiance, Daylon Michael Reed, 23, were arrested in May 2015 and taken into custody after determining their newborn baby Dae-Lynn died from neglect and drug addiction symptoms.
Police said the couple had refused to take their daughter to the hospital because they feared she would be taken away from them.
Brown, who had rejected a plea bargain offer that called for a 15-year-to-life prison sentence, was convicted by a jury of three felonies: first-degree murder, child abuse and possession of heroin for sale. She was also convicted of misdemeanor possession of marijuana for sale.
Deputy District Attorney Sarah Murphy said Brown has shown no remorse and deserves no sympathy. "She's earned each and every second" of the life prison sentence, she said,
Toxicology tests determined the baby had heroin in her system that had broken down into morphine, as well as methamphetamine, prosecutors and law enforcement officers have said.
Redding police detective Brian Cole said Brown admitted during interviews that she and her boyfriend should have sought medical treatment for the baby but were afraid to do so.
Brown used heroin during her pregnancy and feared the child would be taken from them if born an addict. Cole has said Brown told him that she did not call 911 because she believed that telephone number should only be called for immediate emergencies.
“She didn’t believe this qualified,” he said.
Medics were called to a room at the Hilltop Lodge on Nov. 3, 2014, where the couple had gone after the Oct. 30, 2014, birth of their child at another motel. Medics were told a 5-day-old baby wasn’t breathing.
They took the child to Mercy Medical Center in Redding, where she was pronounced dead, police said.
Police said Brown told investigators she researched how to care for a heroin-addicted newborn and began giving her over-the-counter pain killers acetaminophen and ibuprofen after she began to show symptoms of drug addiction.
But, police said, she continued to use heroin and started using methamphetamine while breast-feeding her baby.
One of the baby bottles found by police in the couple’s motel room contained Brown’s breast milk, which later tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamine, police said. Officers also found heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, cash and drug paraphernalia.
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