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Valley mother found guilty of killing toddler in 2013, sentenced to 37 years

The toddler died of malnutrition and was suffering from Rickets, a disease caused by a lack of Vitamin D.

PHOENIX — A Valley woman will spend decades in prison after a Maricopa County jury convicted her of neglecting her young toddler so severely that it resulted in the child's death.

Denise Janelle Snow-Ingram, 48, was found guilty last November of second-degree murder and child abuse after her 16-month-old daughter died in 2013. 

The defendant was recently sentenced to 37 years in prison.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office said the defendant's child died of malnutrition and Rickets, a disease caused by a lack of Vitamin D. 

In July 2013, the mother called 911 after finding her daughter unresponsive. The child later died at the hospital. At the time of her death, the child weighed only nine pounds.

During the mother's trial, prosecutors showed that the defendant deprived the child of medical care and an adequate amount of food.

The victim's father was sentenced to prison last year for manslaughter and child abuse.

“This was a child who stood no chance of surviving in the hands of her own parents," County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement. "It is a point of pride that our prosecutors, and the victim advocate on the case, defended the memory of this innocent child when almost no one else would.”

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