Atlanta, GEORGIA – Georgia woman, 24-year-old ChIoe, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after spending three decades behind bars after jury found her guilty on multiple charges, including maIice murder, crueIty to children and aggravated assault. Prosecutors said the defendant, who was determined to be ‘mentally ill’, killed her baby, 1-year-old Hana, before attempting to take her own life. According to the state law, “guilty but mentally ill” verdict means that the jury rejected her insanity plea and found her criminally responsible for her actions.

The investigation process began in December 2020 after first responders found the severely injured child and rushed her to the hospital. The baby, who suffered multiple stab wounds to the neck area, was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at the local hospital. The defendant was also admitted to the hospital with severe injuries, but survived. She was charged after she spending two weeks at the hospital. 

During the investigation process, authorities in Georgia discovered that the mother grabbed a knife and stabbed her baby in the thr0at multiple times, killing her. Shortly after killing her child, the woman turned the knife on her, stabbing herself in the neck and chest, the local police department said in a statement.

During the trial, prosecutors said the woman killed the baby because she wanted the child’s father all by herself. The woman wanted to be alone wi the child’s dad, who according to prosecutors was a member of a group and had 2 other wives when the defendant killed her child. During the trial, doctor testified that the defendant believed that she was ‘hopeless sinner who could never give her daughter a normal life, and that she was being urged by the others to kill herself and her baby girl’.

Prosecutors alleged throughout her trial that the defendant was motivated to kill her child because she wanted her husband, the baby’s father, all to herself. Note, written by the defendant that was shared in court reads, “He didn’t do it. I did it. I was going insane and no longer wanted to be with his friends but kept coming back for him. I only wanted my baby and husband but he refused.” According to the prosecutors, the mother wanted to be with her baby’s dad and he was never going to give up his poIygamist cuIt lifestyle that they had adopted.

During the sentencing, the defendant apologized for her actions and told the court that she would accept her sentence no matter what it was: “In the past, I genuinely believed I had to die every day for my daughter, to hate myself for my failure in protecting her, but I know now that life goes on whether I suffer or not. So, I need to stop taking from it. I know now that that I must live for my daughter instead and do the best I can to be kind and loving and giving. Because that’s exactly what being with Hana taught me. I see her everywhere, in everything. She lives on and shows me that beauty can be found anywhere, even where I’m going.”