An Indian who had worked as a baby sitter in Connecticut was sentenced to 14 years in US federal prison for the death of a 19-month-old boy in her care last year.
Kinjal Patel, 29, was sentenced on Wednesday under a plea deal entered in Superior Court in New Haven in which she did not admit guilt but conceded there was enough evidence to secure her conviction.
Under the agreement she will also serve five years’ probation for causing the death of Athiyan Sivakumar, who died at Yale-New Haven Hospital in January 2014 of multiple injuries, including a fractured skull.
Police say Ms Patel initially told them that while she was babysitting the boy he suffered a head injury after slipping on the floor. She later admitted she became angry and pushed him in the face, causing him to fall backward and strike his head.
The boy died three days later.
The chief state medical examiner’s office ruled his death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma with multiple sites of impact.
Ms Patel’s lawyer, Kevin Smith, said on Thursday his client “never intended to hurt the child.”
Ms Patel told police after the toddler would not eat rice and spat in her face, she picked him up and slammed his feet onto the kitchen floor three times, then shook his head back and forth, according to the court documents.
