An illegal alien from China convicted of killing her five-year-old daughter got sentenced to 22 years in prison Friday.
Mingming Chen, 30, received her sentence after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter, tampering with evidence, corpse abuse, child endangerment, and obstruction of justice, the Daily Mail reported.
Authorities found Chen’s daughter, Ashley Zhao, 5, dead in her family’s North Canton, Ohio, restaurant after she had been reported missing in January.
Authorities conducted a state-wide manhunt in search of Ashley after she had been reported missing. They found her body the next day inside the restaurant by the freezer.
Both Chen and her husband, Liang Zhao, were arrested following the gruesome discovery.
Authorities say Chen hit the girl several times, causing fatal brain injuries, and that her husband attempted to revive her. However, he allegedly helped hide his daughter’s body when he realized that his attempts to revive her were futile.
County Prosecutor John Ferrero said Chen did not plan to kill her daughter, and that she “committed” the crime “in a fit of anger by a mother who had never bonded with her child.”
Defense attorney Richard Drucker argued that Chen was sorry for what she did and takes full responsibility for her actions. Drucker added that he would have argued Zhao also bore responsibility for his daughter’s death if the case had gone to trial.
Zhao pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction of justice and corpse abuse. He agreed to testify against his wife as part of his plea deal.
Authorities say Chen will be deported to China after she serves her time behind bars because she had been in the U.S. illegally.
Other non-U.S. citizens who have been convicted of crimes are also facing deportation upon completion of their sentences. A Ghanian national who had been convicted of food stamp fraud may face deportation after she completes her prison sentence.
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