A woman has been jailed for life after she tortured and killed her three-year-old stepdaughter ‘because she was the result of her dad’s affair’.
Bella Seachrist was found ‘unresponsive’ in June 2020 in Pennsylvania, US, and weighed just 30 pounds.
She was starved and abused by her stepmother Laura Ramirez, 31, who was sentenced to life without parole on Wednesday, MailOnline reports.
Bella died from malnutrition, failure to thrive due to chronic illness and hypoglycemia, plus abuse and neglect.
Investigators found she had been beaten, sexually abused, tied up, gagged and kept in small dark closets.
Ramirez was found guilty of first-degree murder in July along with other counts including aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child, unlawful restraint, and conspiracy to commit homicide.
Judge Bruce Beemer said: ‘I don’t know that I’ve ever really seen a level of malice not only indeed done here.
‘There was no other possible result, based on what occurred day after day, week after week, month after month, but for her to die in one of the most horrific ways possible.
‘The pain, the hunger – I cannot envision a worse fate for that child than the one she suffered at your hands in that house in Oakmont.’
In May, Bella’s dad Jose Eduardo Salazar-Ortiz was sentenced to 33 to 66 years in prison after being convicted of third-degree murder, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy to commit homicide.
Ramirez’s sister, Alexis Herrera, 23, has also been accused of taking part in the abuse and is set to stand trial in January.
She had videos and pictures of the severe abuse of Bella on her phone.
Authorities said Bella was emaciated you could see her bones through her skin.
Her hair had also fallen out in clumps.
Allegheny County Police Department said: ‘When officers and paramedics arrived, they found the child appearing to be badly bruised and malnourished.
‘Officers and medics performed life saving measures and transported the child to an area hospital where the child was pronounced deceased.’
Bella’s mum Nicole said she sent her daughter to live with her dad and Ramirez because she struggled to afford essentials.
She added she believed her daughter was targeted because she was the result of an affair.
‘She just did it out of spite because number one, that’s not her baby. And number two, he had an affair,’ she said.
‘I’m disgusted, I’m angry. I will never get to hear my daughter call me mommy. I will never get to see her graduate. I will never get to see her go to college. I will never get to see her get married.’
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