A former Minneapolis daycare provider who attempted to hang a toddler in her home avoided prison Monday after a judge sentenced her to ten years of probation.
Nataliia Karia, 43, received the sentence after pleading guilty to charges of attempted murder and third-degree assault in February for hanging the toddler from a noose in her basement, KARE reported.
Karia also pleaded guilty to one count of criminal vehicular operation for striking a pedestrian, a driver, and a bicyclist with her vehicle as she fled her home and attempted suicide in November 2016. All of her victims survived their injuries.
“I apologize, and I don’t know if you will be able to forgive me. I have no excuse for what I did,” Karia — who came to the U.S. from Ukraine in 2006 — said at her sentencing.
The Star Tribune reported that in addition to her probation, the judge ordered that Karia receive mental health treatment and be subject to electronic home monitoring for a minimum of two months.
Judge Jay Quam called her crimes “the perfect storm of factors unlikely to ever be repeated” and determined after consulting a few doctors that Karia is “a low risk” re-offender.
Prosecutors initially pushed for a 13-year prison sentence for the charges.
“She hung (him) by the neck with a homemade noose in her basement in Minneapolis. This case is about that little boy who very well could have taken his last breath in that basement,” assistant county attorney Christina Warren said.
The defense argued for probation, citing her history of mental illness brought on by abuse and pointing out that she already served time in jail for the crime.
The prosecutor argued that being mentally ill is no excuse for not going to prison.
“It’s not that mentally ill shouldn’t go to prison. the Department of Corrections is incredibly well equipped to handle the needs of the mentally ill,” Warren said.
Karia will receive credit for 20 months time served but could be sentenced to house arrest for several months if she violates the terms of probation.