A Florida woman who let her four-year-old daughter drown in a river has admitted a murder charge in exchange for a sentence of 10 years.
On Tuesday, Shakayla Denson, aged 29, pleaded guilty to the murder of her daughter committed in the year 2018.
In court in Tampa, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder for taking his daughter into the Hillsborough River and letting her go in August 2018.
The victim, Je’Hyrah Daniels, screamed as she was swept away by the current and subsequently drowned.
People who were nearby, but too far away to intervene, said the girl cried and She seemed to struggle as Denson pulled her into the water up to her shoulders. She released him, then returned to shore and screamed.
Witnesses saw the girl go up and down as the current carried her south. Someone called 911.
Shortly after the woman was seen coming out of the river and screaming on the shore, she was arrested.
When he completes his sentence of 20 years in prison, Denson will be on probation for 10 years.
In addition, the woman pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and grand theft of a vehicle motorized.
The plea agreement is produced a week before the 29-year-old woman was to face a jury trial.
Denson’s public defenders argued that she was crazy and they had two mental health experts ready to testify to that effect, detailed the Tampa Bay Times.
In a statement, Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren spoke about it: “It is impossible to understand how a mother could drown her own child.”
“Denson clearly she had some serious mental problems, which several expert witnesses found, but we were not willing to admit that she was not guilty of insanity and avoid any punishment. This sentence imposes an appropriate punishment and achieves justice for Je’Hyrah”, added Warren.