Life sentence for China Arnold convicted of microwaving infant daughter

May 25th, 2011 by Elle Blake

An Ohio jury has convicted China Arnold for life, following her third trial over the murder of her infant daughter.

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China Arnold - Image via Montgomery County Jail

Arnold is alleged to have murdered her 28 day old daughter Paris in August 2005, after a drunken argument with her live-in partner about Paris’ paternity. Coroners estimated that Paris had been ‘cooked’ in the microwave for at least two minutes, which caused her internal organs to reach critical temperatures. Arnold did take Paris to a hospital the next day, but the infant was declared dead.

Arnold was initially arrested for the murder, but was released shortly afterwards due to lack of evidence. She was rearrested in 2006, and stood her first trial for the murder.

Arnold’s boyfriend, Talley, had an older son from a previous relationship. During the first trial, Talley’s son claimed he had taken Paris out of the microwave, after seeing a ‘neighbourhood boy’ putting her in there. The claim led to the trial ending as a mistrial.

During the second trial, it was established that Talley’s son had not been in the neighbourhood on the day in question, and could not have seen Paris’ death. The BBC reported that one of Arnold’s cellmates also testified to say Arnold had admitted to putting Paris in the microwave and turning it on, fearing her boyfriend would leave her if he found out he was not Paris’ biological father. The defence claimed Arnold’s cellmate was lying, and someone else was responsible for Paris’ murder. Arnold was convicted of aggravated murder.

The Second District Court of Appeals reversed this conviction in September 2010, after Arnold protested that the court had not allowed material witnesses to stand in her defence. They also cited misconduct by prosecutors.

In May 2011, Arnold was re-tried for the third time. She was again convicted of aggravated murder, despite her defence claiming there was just as much evidence suggesting Talley was the murderer. Arnold was sent to the Ohio Reformatory for Women.

On 20th May 2011, Arnold was finally sentenced to life in prison without parole. She is expected to appeal this decision.

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After deliberating for six hours over the course of two days, an Ohio jury recommended life in prison without parole Friday for a mother convicted of killing her month-old baby in a microwave. The jury, which had found her guilty of aggravated murder a week earlier, spared 31-year-old China Arnold from the death penalty in her third trial for daughter Paris Talley’s 2005 death.

The sentencing phase of Arnold’s trial had been delayed for a few days earlier in the week so she could undergo a mental exam, but two psychologists testified Thursday that she showed no signs of mental illness. In an effort to avoid a death sentence, the defense told the jury that Arnold was very drunk at the time of the killing and that she had no prior criminal history. Prosecutors argued that there were no mitigating factors that outweighed her crime.

Arnold was accused of putting her baby in a microwave and turning it on after a fight with her boyfriend in August 2005. Medical experts testified at the trial that the girl was likely in the microwave for more than two minutes.

“She was cooked,” one former medical examiner testified, according to WLWT.

Arnold’s supporters gathered for a rally on Wednesday, claiming that her conviction was an unjust result of racism. Even after the sentencing, defense attorney Jon Paul Rion told the Springfield News Sun that, “There are witnesses out there that know China is innocent.”
This was not the first jury to convict Arnold of murder, though. Her first trial ended in a mistrial in 2008 when a boy came forward and claimed he saw another child put Talley in the microwave, but she was found guilty at her second trial later that year. That conviction was eventually overturned, partly due to issues with a former cellmate who changed her testimony between trials.

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Prosecutors say China Arnold intentionally put 28-day-old Paris Talley in a microwave and turned it on after a fight with her boyfriend

DAYTON, Ohio — A woman convicted of killing her month-old baby daughter in a microwave oven was spared the death penalty and sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole.

Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Mary Wiseman sentenced China Arnold, 31, of Dayton, Ohio, who psychologists testified showed no signs of serious mental illness. Arnold declined to make a statement during her sentencing.

Arnold was convicted last week of aggravated murder by the same jury that recommended her punishment. Jurors deliberated about six hours Thursday and Friday.

Prosecutors say Arnold intentionally put 28-day-old Paris Talley in a microwave and turned it on after a fight with her boyfriend. The couple had argued over whether the boyfriend was the infant's biological father.

Defense attorney Jon Paul Rion argued that the evidence pointed as much to the boyfriend as it did to the child's mother, who Rion said was drunk at the time.

After Friday's hearing, Rion told the Dayton Daily News he would appeal. He did not immediately return a message left at his office by The Associated Press.

The prosecutor's office had no immediate comment.

Medical experts testified that the baby died quickly after her temperature reached between 107 to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. They said she probably was in the microwave for more than two minutes.

"She died because she was overheated," said Dr. Marcella Fierro, retired chief medical examiner for Virginia. "She was cooked."

It was Arnold's third trial in her daughter's 2005 death. Her first trial ended in a mistrial when new witnesses surfaced just before closing arguments. Her second trial ended in a guilty verdict and a life sentence. But an appeals court overturned the conviction when it found prosecutorial misconduct and said the trial judge erred in not allowing a relevant witness to testify.

The sentencing phase was delayed earlier this week to allow time for a mental exam of Arnold. Two psychologists testified Thursday that Arnold was of average intelligence and showed no signs of serious mental illness.

Dr. Jeffrey Smalldon said Arnold suffered from a "low-grade chronic depressive condition" as well as alcohol and drug abuse. He said he found nothing "that would have justified the death of this child."

In arguing for the death sentence, Assistant Montgomery County Prosecutor Dan Brandt told the jury there were no factors that mitigate the "purposeful murder of baby Paris in that microwave."

Defense attorney Kevin Lennen said that death or life in prison would be a tough penalty, but death should go only to the worst offenders. He pointed to evidence that Arnold was drunk at the time of the baby's death.

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That witch how could she do that?

I could barely read what she did to that poor baby! There's no punishment that's good enough for this so called mother. I pray she's NEVER paroled.

IDK and I don't care!!!!