NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. — Cortney Bell openly sobbed as a judge castigated her and read her sentence from the stand for the murder of her own child, Tuesday.
Baby Caliyah was found in a gym bag that belonged to Christopher McNabb, wrapped in a blanket and clothes of his not far from the parents’ trailer.
"Y'all know I didn't do this," Bell said, crying before learning her sentence.
She was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 30 years with 15 to serve behind bars with additional 5 and 10-year sentences to be served concurrently. But, before Judge John Ott read her sentence, he lectured her for her actions in what would end in the death of little Caliyah.
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"There's a difference between the reality of the situation and what you think," the judge said. "I explained to you exactly why you were being charged with the crimes."
He said that her children were put second - and it cost one of them their lives.
"It wasn't that you knew about the murder, it wasn't that you anticipated the murder, it wasn't that you planned the murder - any of those things," he said. "It was simply that you created an environment that caused your children to be put second and Mr. McNabb to be put first."
Christopher McNabb, the infant's father, was charged with malice murder and also with concealing the baby's death. He was sentenced to life without parole plus 10 years.
Earlier, prosecutors argued in closing statements McNabb was a negligent father and violent partner with a short fuse and a penchant for lying, who snapped at his crying infant, killed her and frantically tried to hide his crime.
"I'm sorry. For you to go around chasing McNabb, doing meth, flies in the face of what any normal mother would do," the judge said.
She responded that she had a sickness but that she tried to be a good mother. But the judge replied that her actions flew in the face of what a mother would do to protect her child - alluding to how a mother bear would naturally protect her cub.
"The problem, Ms. McNabb, is that like most criminals, we have this version of what a good mama is that is so far from the norm...," the judge replied.
BACKGROUND:
THE TRIAL:
DAY 1:
DAY 2:
'Some things were overlooked': Attorneys spar over evidence on Day 2 in trial of 2-week-old's murder
DAY 3:
DAY 4: