An Arizona mom whose missing child is presumed dead has been sentenced to life in prison without parole -- plus an additional 20 years for mistreatment of a minor.
Jerice Hunter is the sole suspect in the suspicious disappearance and suspected death of her 5-year-old daughter Jhessye over four years ago.
The convicted kid killer had been released from prison only months before the assumed slaying allegedly occurred, after having been convicted of child abuse alongside her then-husband in 2005.
Prosecutors convinced a judge this spring that in 2011 the 41-year-old ex con beat her starved and neglected little girl to death, stuffed the corpse into a suitcase, and disposed of it in a location yet to be determined.
Investigators were never able to produce the missing girl’s remains, despite searching through nearly 10,000 pounds of rubbish at numerous local landfills.
The conviction and life sentencing of a parent whose missing child is merely thought to be dead is a noteworthy legal victory, considering the case presented largely circumstantial evidence and only a presumption of guilt was needed.
Moreover, defense attorneys argued there was no indication that any of the accused woman’s other children had been harmed; a contention substantiated by the testimony of a Child Protective Services worker and at least one schoolteacher.
Hunter herself has steadfastly asserted she is innocent of the charges brought against her in the unsolved missing-persons case of Jhessye Shockley, and restated that position on the day of the sentence hearing:
"I know I've been made out to be a horrible person and a monster of a mother," she said, in plea for mercy that the judge flatly rejected. "I've been convicted of a horrible crime which I most definitely did not commit."
An appeal is therefore likely.
