Baby-Sitter Pleads Guilty to Murder of Toddler
Averting a trial in which her own daughter would have been a witness against her, a Van Nuys baby-sitter pleaded guilty Thursday to murdering an 18-month-old girl under her care.
Nova Marcia Thompson, 35, sobbed quietly as she pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the June 9, 1989, death of Jasmine Lynn Sanders, who lapsed into a coma after being violently shaken and scalded with water.
Thompson’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Andrea Gilliam, said her client pleaded guilty to the charge because “her young daughter was going to be the main witness against her and she didn’t want her to have to testify” again. The daughter had testified during a preliminary hearing.
Had Thompson gone to trial and been convicted by a jury of those counts and of first-degree murder, she would have faced a prison sentence of 25 years to life, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol Fisch. Instead, Thompson will receive a sentence of 15 years to life in prison, Fisch said.
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