A Massachusetts woman has pleaded guilty in connection with the December 2019 death of her 2-year-old daughter.
A Plymouth District Court judge sentenced Shaniqua Leonard, of Whitman, to at least three years in prison and five years of probation after she pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter and reckless endangerment.
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Two-year-old Lyric Farrell of Whitman was found unresponsive on Dec. 28, 2019 and taken to Brockton Hospital, where she was taken off life support on Dec. 31 after being declared brain-dead. Leonard was arrested the following month on a charge of reckless endangerment of a child.
According to court documents, Leonard told authorities the toddler had been banging her head on the floor in the days leading up to her death. The defendant also showed them a video of the matter.
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Prosecutors previously said the mother of seven failed to get the medical care her 2-year-old needed — pointing to more than a dozen videos on Leonard's phone showing the little girl in distress.
"Mom did nothing to alleviate that in the final hours and instead waited until she has no pulse and was not breathing at all to call 911," Assistant District Attorney Jessica Kenny said during Leonard's arraignment.
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"Lyric Farrell was a perfectly healthy 2 1/2 year old who loved bubbles, her daycare and the colors blue and purple" Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said in a public statement on Wednesday. "She was loved, she was special and didn't deserve what happened to her."
The judge ordered Leonard to have no contact with anyone under the age of 16 and the witness in the case, and that she abide by all restraining orders, have mental health evaluations and treatment. Leonard was also ordered to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet and to undergo parenting and anger management classes as part of her probation.
