The legal guardians for 7-year-old Katelynn Sampson were sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday after they pleaded guilty to her second-degree murder.
Donna Irving, 33, and her common law partner Warren Johnson, 50, were arrested in August 2008 after Katelynn's battered body was found in their Parkdale apartment. A coroner ruled that the little girl died of septic shock after infections that had started in multiple open wounds entered her blood stream and gradually poisoned her.
An agreed statement of fact, read in court on Tuesday, indicates that one or both of the adults responsible for her care had beaten the little girl repeatedly over a period of at least two weeks before her death. Neither sought medical attention for her, even after it became clear that her life was in danger.
The mandatory sentence for second-degree murder is life in prison. Ms. Irving and Mr. Johnson will have no chance of parole for 15 years, the judge ruled on Tuesday.
Katelynn moved in with the couple in 2007 after her mother, who was addicted to crack cocaine, asked Ms. Irving to care for her in exchange for $200 a month she was receiving in government support. Eventually, Mr. Irving was granted full custody of the child.
By May 2008, Katelynn had stopped attending school, according to the agreed statement of facts. During the subsequent months, Ms. Irving repeatedly denied Katelynn's mother access to the child, claiming at different times that she was away at summer camp, visiting a relative or didn't want to see her.
Ms. Irving phoned 911 early in the morning of Aug. 3, 2008, and told an operator that Katelynn had choked on a piece of bread. Paramedics found the little girl with no vital signs and with injuries to nearly every part of her body.