SAN DIEGO (CN) — San Diego Deputy District Attorney Franciesca Balerio did not mince words when she asked a jury to find the mother of a four-month-old baby, Delilah, guilty of murder through starvation.
“This case is about the most basic duty recognized by the law and humanity,” Balerio told jurors during closing arguments. “A parent must feed their baby. Delilah entered this world completely healthy, completely dependent, and completely vulnerable. Her mother denied her the one thing required to live. Nourishment.”
Elizabeth Ucman, 26, and Brandon Copeland, 25, were arrested Nov. 11, 2021, after their daughter was found unresponsive and not breathing in their City Heights apartment. Delilah, who weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces at birth in July, weighed 3 pounds, 10 ounces when she died in November, Balerio told jurors…