America
Indian-origin baby sitter to serve 14 years for toddler's death
New York, Aug 28
A 29-year-old Indian-American
baby sitter will serve 14 years in prison in the US after she was found
guilty of the death of a toddler in her care.
Kinjal Patel
pleaded under the Alford doctrine, in which a defendant does not admit
guilt but concedes that there is enough evidence for conviction at
trial, New Haven Register reported.
Patel was found guilty by
court for the death of Athiyan Sivakumar, who was 19-months-old when he
died at Yale-New Haven Hospital on January 19, 2014.
Sivakumar sustained fatal injuries while he was under Patel's care.
Medical
examiners involved in the case ruled that the child's death is a
homicide and the cause of his death was blunt force trauma.
Patel's attorney Kevin Smith asserted that the boy's death was an accident.
"There was zero intent on her part to harm this child," Smith was quoted as saying.
"This
was a horrible, tragic accident, probably due to her lack of experience
with small children and not knowing how to handle these types of
situations," she added.
"The physical evidence (if the case had
come to trial) would not show a plan or thought on her part. It was just
split second reactions with unintended but tragic consequences," Smith
said.
According to the police warrant, the toddler gave Patel a hard time about eating rice and spat water on her face.
A
furious Patel picked up the boy and slammed his feet onto the kitchen
floor three times and shook his head back and forth. She later pushed
the boy in the face and he fell backward, hitting his head, the warrant
added.
The prosecutor did not comment and said she will talk in
detail about the case during the sentencing hearing scheduled for
October 29.
Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Clifford will impose a
20 year sentence, to be suspended after Patel serves 14 years, and she
will also serve five years probation, the report in the daily said.
Smith argued that since Patel is not a US citizen she must be deported to India after she completes her sentence.
The boy’s parents also face charges in the case.
They allegedly lied to detectives about the incident in which their boy was injured, the report said.
The
boy's mother, Thenmozhi Rajendran, 26, told police initially that she
was taking care of her son when she noticed his breathing was abnormal
and the boy fell while reaching for a doorknob.
The boy's father Sivakumar Mani, 35, allegedly backed his wife's "abnormal breathing" story.
On further investigation, it was revealed that the boy was under Patel's care on the day of the incident in December.