FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (TCN) — A 33-year-old mother has been sentenced to life in prison after a jury found her found guilty of first-degree murder and felonious child abuse in connection with the 2015 death of her 2-year-old daughter.
According to a press release from the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, toddler Macy Ditty was taken to the hospital on Dec. 2, 2015, and medical staff noticed extensive bruising that indicated abuse. Ditty’s CT scan showed brain injuries had occurred eight to 24 hours prior, when the child was in the sole care of her mother, Jeanie Ditty, an active-duty member of the United States Army. Her father was serving overseas at the time and Macy Ditty was kept alive on life support until he was able to return home. She was pronounced dead on Dec. 4, 2015, shortly before her third birthday.
After the child’s death but before the autopsy findings were released, Jeanie Ditty contacted a photographer to take images with the toddler at a cemetery, WRAL reports. She told Sunny Jo, the photographer, that the child had choked to death on a banana…