A 28-year-old mother from Brooklyn that downed her 2-year-old daughter to death in a bathtub for wetting herself was sentenced to spend 18 years in jail.
Lin Li, the 28-year-old mother, was convicted in 2019 for manslaughter for the March 2016 drowning death of Melody Zheng.
Not only that, but she was also convicted for assault after she reportedly held the head of her 4-year-old son’s head underwater.
According to reports, Li shoved Melody, her 2-year-old daughter, into a container and placed it in the bathtub in her Sunset Park Apartment in Brooklyn.
Li reportedly held the 2-year-ind underwater until she stopped struggling.
Roger McCready, the Assistant District Attorney of Brooklyn, tried Li to get a 35-year sentence, which consists of 25 years for manslaughter and 10 years for the assault of her 4-year-old son.
The attorney referred to the actions of the mother as horrible and monstrous.
Speaking through a translator during her sentencing, the 28-year-old mother expressed remorse.
Li said, “She passed on my watch and I’m always going to live with my mistake.”
Judge Deborah Dowling said Li was not going to get away by expressing remorse and by saying it was a mistake.
Judge Dowling said, “You cannot discipline children by holding their heads under the water.”
Li is not allowed to have contact with her son until he is at least 16 years old, added Judge Dowling.
Eric Gonzalez, the DA of Brooklyn, said, “This defendant had a duty to care for her children and to keep them safe, but instead she used inexplicable and dangerous methods to discipline them — and caused the violent death of her daughter.”
Mario Romano, the attorney of Li, said Li, the mother that killed her daughter, said she is filing an appeal for a reduced sentence.