Veronica Cirella, from Plainview, N.Y., pleaded guilty to manslaughter Thursday for asphyxiating her 8-year-old disabled daughter in July 2011, the New York Daily News reports. Cirella’s daughter, Julie Cirella, had cerebral palsy and was supposed to be the flower girl in a wedding on the day she died.
Her mother originally told authorities that Julie died as a result of an allergic reaction after being fed peanut M&M’s, but an autopsy found that there was no peanut residue in Julie’s body. Last month prosecutors revealed that they believed Cirella killed her own daughter by asphyxiating her, the Daily News explains.
Cirella received 12 years in prison for pleading guilty.
According to relatives, Cirella never complained about taking care of Julie, and the mother gave no reason for killing her child.
Read more at the New York Daily News.