CINCINNATI -- Tears streamed down Andrea Bradley's face and her lips quivered when she was sentenced in the "torture" death of her 2-year-old daughter Wednesday.
Judge Robert Ruehlman gave Bradley to 15 years to life. Bradley pleaded no contest earlier this month.
Prosecutors said the girl's father, Glen Bates, tortured 2-year-old Glenara Bates so severely she died in March 2015. They said Bradley was complicit because she neglected and failed to feed the child.
The deputy coroner who performed the autopsy called Glenara's death "one of the worst I've ever seen." The detective who investigated said she was so emaciated "I thought I was looking at a 6-month-old child."
Although Bates was sentenced to death in October 2016, Bradley wasn't eligible for a death sentence because tests showed she has an IQ of 67.
Bradley had no comment in court but her attorney asked Ruehlman to consider that she had also suffered at Glen Bates' hand.
"There is mitigation in this case because she was a victim as well. She was abused and there is no question about that," the attorney said.
Bradley wept as her social worker talked about the lack of love and support in her life.
"Her dad not wanting to have anything to do with her when I called him for help was very hurtful for me let alone Andrea," he said. "Glen Bates was not only abusive toward Glenara but also to Andrea."
Bradley has been in and out of court for two years. She rejected multiple plea deals that would have reduced her sentence to 15 years.
After her attorneys asked for a continuance following her second plea rejection, Bradley blurted out -- in open court -- that she didn't care about a deal.
"It don't matter what I want," Bradley said. "Give the world what they want. If they want the death penalty, give it to 'em. I don't care."
Bradley was charged with aggravated murder, endangering children and murder as a special felony.
Bradley's plea of no contest is an alternative to a guilty or not guilty plea: A defendant who pleads "no contest" does not admit guilt, but does admit the information in the indictment is accurate, according to the Ohio Bar Association.
Hamilton County Deputy Coroner Dr. Jennifer Schott said Glenara weighed only 13 pounds when she died, less than half the average weight of a 2-year-old.
Schott also testified that Glenara was covered in "C-shaped scars," determined to be bite marks.
Schott said the child had severe diaper rash that extended from her lower back to her thighs.
During Bates' taped interrogation, he said Glenara was often made to sleep in a downstairs bathtub because of a bed-wetting problem. Prosecutors said the tub was filled with feces.
Schott said she believes Glenara could have survived had she been taken to a hospital.
