Oluremi Adeleye, a 73-year-old nanny convicted of murder in the U.S. for force-feeding a baby has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
According to Washington Post, the septuagenarian was found guilty of child abuse and second-degree murder by Prince George’s County Circuit Court, Judge Karen Mason.
“While I don’t find the defendant is an evil-intentioned baby slayer, I also don’t find her actions were accidental,” Mason said before handing down the sentence.
Prince George’s County prosecutors argued that the nanny unscrewed the lid of a baby bottle and poured nearly eight ounces of milk down 8-month-old Enita Salubi’s throat.
Adeleye, a native of Nigeria, testified in her own defense at her trial that she was “cup-feeding” the baby to ensure it didn’t go hungry, a custom in her home country.
She and her attorneys said that she did not mean to hurt the child and that Enita’s death was a “tragic accident.”
Adeleye had others testify in her defense, saying that cup-feeding — pouring liquid in one’s hand to feed children when they do not want to eat but need to be fed — was common in Nigeria.
“Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to kill your child,” Oluremi said in court on the day the judgment was delivered.
The child had roused the nanny from a nap, and the girl essentially drowned in milk while in Adeleye’s care in Glenarden on October 24, 2016, prosecutors said at trial.