'Did not deserve what she went through': Mom lightly sentenced for waiting hours to call 911 after 2-year-old daughter was 'tortured' to death by boyfriend

A Virginia pistillate has learned her destiny for the relation she played successful the brutal beating decease of her 2-year-old daughter.

Amanda Brittani Mitchell, 35, antecedently pleaded blameworthy to counts of child abuse, kid cruelty, and cause possession.

On Friday, she was sentenced to 45 years successful situation by 27th Circuit Judge Joey Showalter – with a important caveat.

Of that sentence, 44 years and 9 months were suspended by the court. In sum, Mitchell volition walk 90 days down bars for the decease of her daughter, Harper Mitchell. The small miss was beaten to decease by her mother's then-boyfriend, Andrew Byrd, 39, who was watching her – and apt utilizing methamphetamine – portion Mitchell was astatine work.

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"He was intelligibly the main culprit," Radford Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Rehak said during Mitchell's sentencing hearing, according to a courtroom study by The Roanoke Times.

The authoritative said the suspect did explicit remorse and work for her actions – or, rather, deficiency thereof.

And, arsenic during Byrd's sentencing, forgiveness was a leitmotif.

During her clip connected the stand, Mitchell said she had forgiven herself for what happened to her girl and spent the past 5 years becoming "the champion idiosyncratic Harper would privation her to be," according to a courtroom study by Roanoke-based CBS affiliate WDBJ.

The judge, for his part, called Harper an "angel" and kid "who did not merit what she went done that day."

Showalter went connected to explicit the anticipation that Mitchell takes immoderate clip successful situation to bespeak connected however Harper's father's household volition consciousness spending yet different vacation play without the small girl.

In October 2023, Showalter sentenced Byrd, Mitchell's erstwhile boyfriend, to 2 beingness sentences for Harper's murder.

"No person, fto unsocial a small girl, a small angel, should beryllium hurt," the justice said during Byrd's ain sentencing hearing.

Rehak, astatine the time, said Harper's execution was "the astir superior transgression of each the crimes we've got successful our books," The Roanoke Times reported. He added: "This suspect tortured that mediocre small girl."

Evidence astatine proceedings showed that connected April 16, 2020, Byrd showed up precocious to prime up Harper's parent from work, WDBJ reported. Amanda Mitchell testified that the suspect was acting suspiciously astir the kid – who was bleeding. The parent told the assemblage that she wanted to instrumentality her miss to a hospital. Byrd wouldn't fto her and enactment a weapon to her caput to dissuade her, she said.

When the girl's parent and her then-boyfriend got home, she said, Byrd strangled and deed her arsenic they argued astir what to do.

The kid lone belatedly got aesculapian attraction aft her parent contacted Byrd's parent – who, successful turn, called 911.

Harper had a faint pulse erstwhile the defendant's parent arrived. She besides had a disposable people connected her forehead. The miss was rushed to a adjacent infirmary but was taken disconnected beingness enactment aboriginal that week.

A constabulary detective who testified said Byrd offered assorted excuses for what happened, including that she fell disconnected a four-wheeler, fell retired of a buying cart, and reacted poorly to thing she ate due to the fact that of a seed allergy, WDBJ reported. He told constabulary the young girl's information worsened arsenic the time passed.

"I don't person my small miss anymore," Harper's father, T.J. Mitchell, said done tears astatine Byrd's sentencing hearing.

"This suspect should beryllium down bars," Rehak said during Byrd's sentencing proceeding – saying Harper was "beaten to a pulp."

Showalter sentenced Byrd to consecutive beingness sentences connected the execution and malicious wounding charges. He was besides sentenced to assorted situation presumption – from 12 months to 10 years – for the different six offenses. The justice assessed those lesser sentences to tally concurrently, oregon astatine the aforesaid time, arsenic the 2 beingness sentences.

The justice besides mused connected the symptom Harper endured.

"I don't caput telling you this, Mr. Byrd," Showalter said. "If Harper were present today, she would beryllium the archetypal to say, 'I forgive you.'"

Mitchell testified astatine Byrd's trial; she initially faced felony homicide and involuntary manslaughter. Those charges were yet dropped.

As acold arsenic culpability is concerned, Mitchell waited implicit 2 hours earlier coming location to find Harper bruised and limp connected the time successful question. Authorities accidental that hold apt played a contributing origin successful the child's death. Notably, however, Byrd besides assaulted Mitchell that time and stopped her from calling for assistance sooner, according to grounds during Byrd's trial.