Mum sentenced after abandoning baby in desert to die
A US woman has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars after leaving her 17-month-old daughter to die in the desert.
Arizona woman Ashley Attson abandoned her daughter in a stroller at an American Indian reservation in September 2016, Time reports.
The 23-year-old mother left her daughter four four days and nights and returned only to bury the little girl’s body in an animal hole.
Federal prosecutors said the woman went about her life while her daughter was abandoned in the desert.
“Over the next few days, she met friends for ice cream and posted pictures of herself on Facebook,” a news release stated.
“When she returned, the child was dead.”
Ms Attson, a member of the Navajo Nation, pleaded guilty to murder, PEOPLE reports.
During sentencing, U.S. District Judge David C. Campbell said Ms Attson’s actions represented “an intentional cold-hearted, horrendous killing of an innocent child”.
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This article first published on Marie Claire.
