Life sentence for mother who microwaved baby

AN American mother who burned her baby daughter to death in a microwave was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without the chance for parole.

China Arnold, 28, opted not to be in the Ohio court when Montgomery County Judge Mary Wiseman announced her decision.

The judge rejected a plea by Arnold’s lawyer for a minimum sentence of life in prison with the chance of parole after 25 years.

A jury last week spared Arnold the death penalty when it could not reach a consensus.

Arnold was convicted on August 29 of aggravated murder in the death of one-month-old Paris Talley.

Prosecutors said Arnold intentionally put her baby in the microwave after a row with her boyfriend.

The couple had argued over whether the boyfriend was the biological father.

It was Arnold’s second trial.

The first ended in a mistrial when new witnesses surfaced.

Defence lawyer Jon Paul Rion has asked for a third trial, saying a former cellmate who said Arnold confessed has now changed her story.