A Wichita woman was sentenced to nearly six years in prison — the maximum allowed by law — for the death of her 2 1/2-year-old stepdaughter.
In imposing the sentence on Katie Cornejo, District Judge Clark Owens overruled a defense motion to grant Cornejo probation or to depart from state sentencing guidelines.
The guidelines called for a sentence of 61 to 71 months on the voluntary manslaughter conviction.
During the hourlong sentencing hearing, several of Daytona Robertson's relatives offered tearful memories of the girl who was named after the famed NASCAR race.
Cornejo's mother and brother spoke on her behalf, and continued to profess her innocence.
Before imposing the sentence, Owens warned the relatives, "There's probably not going to be anyone in this courtroom that's happy with the result."
Daytona was hospitalized on Feb. 22, 2008, with a severe head injury, and died several days later. Cornejo was caring for Daytona before she was hospitalized.
In their plea agreement with defense lawyers, prosecutors agreed to recommend that Cornejo serve the minimum of 61 months in prison. Defense lawyer Alice Osburn asked Owens to depart from sentencing guidelines and grant her client probation or impose a shorter sentence.
Owens said he did not have a "substantial and compelling" reason to depart from sentencing laws. When considering all the facts in the case, he said, the state's recommendation seemed too low.
"There's one thing everybody in this courtroom can agree on, and that's that the death of a child is a tragedy to everybody."
A physician testifying for the state said Daytona's injury was caused by a force comparable to a fall from a second- or third-floor window onto concrete. He said symptoms of the injuries would have shown up on the day they were inflicted.
A defense expert, however, told the jury that Daytona's injuries would have shown up over time and didn't necessarily occur on the day she was hospitalized.
The jury did not hear evidence about how Cornejo's biological daughter, 13-month-old Kailee Hundley, died March 25, 2008, after being partly strapped into a car seat and left unattended for more than two hours in a laundry room at her day care.
In asking for probation, Cornejo's lawyer, Osburn, said her client has had to deal with the loss of Kailee and the loss of a son who died hours after being born prematurely.
"Katie has dealt with this in jail," Osburn said. "She has not healed."
Cornejo's mother, Rhonda Cornejo, told Owens she's convinced her daughter is innocent.
"I cannot grasp that my daughter would ever hurt anyone," she said. "She loved her children.
"I don't know who did this to Daytona, (but) she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just ask you to give her the benefit of the doubt."
