A Victoria woman has been found guilty of the first-degree murder of her baby daughter, and a jury has ended her bid to be found not criminally responsible for the act.

The jury found Kaela Mehl deliberately killed her 18-month-old daughter Charlotte by feeding her sleeping pills mixed into yogurt before smothering her on Sept. 16, 2015.

It was a long and emotionally charged day in court, with Mehl slumping in her chair when the jury announced her guilt.

The dead infant's father, Dan Cunningham, was still physically shaking 10 minutes after the verdict was read.

"Right now, honestly I couldn't tell you what my exact emotion is. I am relieved, I am happy, I'm looking forward to this all being behind me and just going back to a normal life," he said.

The verdict was delivered early Wednesday afternoon, and later, Mehl's lawyer raised the defence of not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder.

That meant the jury was sequestered again and tasked with determining whether Mehl was suffering from a mental disorder, and whether it made her incapable of knowing that killing her child was wrong.

They deliberated once more and early Wednesday evening announced Mehl would be held criminally responsible for the murder.

During the trial, which began about one month ago, Mehl had pleaded not guilty to the charge but admitted to killing the toddler.

Her defence lawyers tried to prove Mehl was suffering from a mental disorder when the murder took place, and said she believed she was protecting her baby from perceived threats by killing her.

Crown argued that Mehl intentionally and deliberately killed her daughter Charlotte.

Mehl's lawyers said they were going to review the decision and had not ruled out appealing the verdict.

The mandatory sentence for a murder conviction in Canada is a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.