Victoria mother pleads guilty to murdering baby in 2015
A Victoria woman has pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of her infant daughter in 2015, the B.C. Supreme Court heard Monday.
In 2017, Kaela Janine Mehl was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of her 18-month old daughter, Charlotte, in September 2015.
At the trial, Mehl had confessed that she had put a lethal dose of prescription sleeping pills into yogurt and fed it to her daughter before smothering her.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Mehl had killer her daughter amid a custody dispute with her estranged husband.
Mehl's defence claimed that she was in a disordered mental state and was not criminally responsible for the incident.
The jury ultimately found her guilty of first-degree murder in 2017, but Mehl later successfully appealed the conviction in 2021 on the grounds that her legal representative was ineffective and that a juror displayed bias.
On Monday, Mehl pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and a joint submission from the Crown and defence recommended a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.
That sentence was confirmed late Monday afternoon, minus three years, nine months and three days for time already served.
Mehl also received a lifetime ban on owning firearms.
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