Mother beat daughter, 4, to death with belt for wetting herself

A mother admitted that she beat her daughter to death with a belt because the youngster kept wetting herself, prosecutors said.

Jessica Warren, 31, pleaded guilty on Monday to the murder of her 4-year-old daughter, Armani Hodges, in their Durham, North Carolina home in September 2014.

Warren was sentenced to 13 to 20 years in prison for killing her daughter, who died of severe abdominal trauma, including a lacerated liver.

Authorities found Armani unresponsive in her mother’s apartment and tried to revive her, but failed, according to WRAL.

Warren originally told police that her daughter fell off her bed and hit her head while playing. She later changed her story to say that Armani went to bed early because she was feeling ill.

She later confessed that she beat her daughter with a leather belt, and ‘possibly’ her fists, after an autopsy proved that she died of trauma to the abdomen.

Prosecutors said the Warren beat her daughter to punish her because she wet herself.

‘The mother did admit that she caused the injuries on the child that subsequently caused her to die,’ said Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez.

‘We are talking about broken ribs, things of that nature from striking her.’

In court, Warren’s family said she has changed since the fatal incident, but relatives of Armani’s father said the child’s death has caused immeasurable grief that has tore the two families apart.

‘I cant say (the guilty plea and sentence are) fair because Armani’s gone and she’s never coming back,’ the girl’s aunt, Kisha White, said.

‘Jessica’s still here, so no fair but the plea was the plea.’

A judge ruled that Warren will get credit for the two years she has already spent behind bars, meaning she could be free as early as 2030.