This case is devastating on all accounts.
Last year, Deasia Watkins was charged with aggravated murder after stabbing and decapitating her three-month-old daughter Jayniah.
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On Monday, the 21-year-old rejected a plea deal because her lawyer, Norman Aubin, confirmed to PEOPLE that they’re making a case for an insanity defense, saying:
“It’s the best defense for her.”
Court documents obtained last year say the Ohio woman had been diagnosed with postpartum psychosis, and the infant’s father declared in the legal papers that she had been “speaking of demons.”
Before the baby’s gruesome murder, the child had been placed in the custody of Deasia’s aunt.
According to NBC, the young mother wasn’t allowed to live with her aunt, but allegedly killed her daughter while her relative was asleep.
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WCPO-TV says Deasia will be under the court’s jurisdiction for life without parole if the jury finds her not guilty due to insanity.
Norman explains that, if she had taken the plea deal, she would have been sentenced to 15 years to life behind bars.
What do YOU think of Watkins’ insanity defense?
[Image via Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.]