Mother guilty in baby's murder
BATON ROUGE - A mother was convicted of murder by a jury Thursday night.
Ashley Heard, 30, was on trial following the June 2013 death of her 11-month-old daughter, Aaliyah Heard.
The jury unanimously found Heard guilty of second degree cruelty to a juvenile and second degree murder. As the verdict was read, Heard broke into tears.
A family member of Heard walked out of court and told News Two, "Either way, it's a no-win situation, Aaliyah's not here and now Ashley's gone."
Heard's boyfriend, 28-year-old Larry Leflore, is charged with first-degree murder and second-degree cruelty and will be tried at a later date.
An arrest affidavit indicated LeFlore got angry when the girl wouldn't eat her food. The infant's sibling reported to police that LeFlore beat Aaliyah before putting her to bed on the day she was found. Police said the little girl was found unresponsive at the scene with bruises, cuts and cigarette burns on her body.
Prosecutors successfully argued even if Heard did not inflict the severe injuries found on the baby, she was criminally negligent in allowing what happened to her daughter.
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Sentencing for Heard will be Oct. 21.
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