China P Arnold

Case

Arnold, who had been convicted of abduction in 2000 and forgery in 2002, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on September 8, 2008, for killing her 28-day-old daughter, Paris. The infant was placed in a microwave oven for what analysts suspect was longer than two minutes and died the following day due to her internal temperature becoming critical.

In August 2005, Arnold lived with her other children and her boyfriend, Terrell Talley, in a housing complex. Prosecutors said she placed Paris into the microwave after an argument with Talley over the baby's paternity; she told investigators that she was intoxicated. Arnold took Paris to the hospital the next day, where she died of her injuries. Arnold was initially arrested, then released due to a lack of evidence. She was re-arrested in November 2006.

Shortly after Arnold's first trial began, Talley said his son had told him that he pulled the infant's lifeless body out of the microwave after a neighbor's boy had put her inside; the claim resulted in a mistrial. However, during the second trial, the mother of the boy in question established that he was not at the housing complex when Paris died, and Arnold was convicted of aggravated murder.

On November 5, 2010, the Second District Court of Appeals reversed Arnold's conviction, citing misconduct by prosecutors and that the court erred by not allowing material witnesses to testify in Arnold's defense.

On May 13, 2011, a jury found Arnold guilty of aggravated murder. Her attorney had argued that the evidence pointed as much to Talley as it did Arnold, to no avail.

Aftermath

Arnold has been incarcerated at the Dayton Correctional Institution since September 11, 2008.

On May 20, 2011, Arnold was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Her attorney says they will appeal the decision.