China Arnold, 34-years-old, is serving life without parole at Dayton Correctional Institution for the death of her 28-day-old baby girl, Paris Talley. Police department had named this as one of the highest profile and most graphic murder cases in recent Montgomery County history, prosecutors stated that Arnold killed the baby by burning her in a microwave oven, they are seeking for death penalty in the case.
Prosecutors said Arnold intentionally put the baby in the microwave after a fight with her boyfriend. They said the couple had argued over whether the boyfriend was the biological father and that Arnold was intoxicated when she committed the vile act.
The Ohio Public Defender’s office, which represents Arnold, said the case contains important constitutional questions about double jeopardy because she received her life without parole sentence only after the jury deadlocked on the question of capital punishment.
Arnold’s lawyers wanted the supreme court to reverse the 2nd District Court of Appeals decision and send the case back to the trial court for re-sentencing. The Ohio Supreme Court, without comment, declined.
A Montgomery County grand jury indicted Arnold on one count of aggravated murder. But the judge in the case declared a mistrial. Arnold was sentenced following her second trial; her first ended in a mistrial when new witnesses surfaced.
Arnold went on trial a third time and was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole.
“This defendant was found guilty by 24 jurors during two separate jury trials,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said in a written statement. “With today’s decision by the Ohio Supreme Court declining to accept her final appeal, we hope that, finally, this horrifying case is closed and the defendant will serve the rest of her life in prison for murdering her own 28-day-old baby girl in a microwave oven.”
Arnold’s attorney, Stephen Hardwick, could not be reached for comment.
H/T: Daily Mail
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