Babysitter Sentenced to 11 Years for Killing 2-Year-Old

A 20-year-old Ohio woman was sentenced to 11 years in prison Wednesday for killing a 2-year-old she was babysitting with a blow to the head, PEOPLE confirms.

Allison Nething of Mansfield, Ohio, has no chance of early release, according to court records obtained by PEOPLE.

Nething was babysitting Marley Milner on April 5, 2016, when the toddler sustained injuries that led to her death, the Mansfield News Journal reports.

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The child was taken to a local hospital and then flown to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where she died two days later of blunt force head trauma, the Richland County Coroner’s office ruled.

Describing the child’s injury as an “extremely massive blow to her head,” Richland County prosecutor Gary Bishop said that the blow “was so severe that this could have been done in an emergency room with brain surgeons standing by at the ready and they could not have saved her,” the Richland Source reports.

He added: “This was done intentionally. It wasn’t done with the intention of killing Marley, but it was done with the intention of harming her.”

Bishop tells PEOPLE: “It was a terrible thing for a young woman to do that created such loss and tragedy not only to her family but certainly insurmountable grief to Marley’s family.”

Bishop tells PEOPLE that according to Nethin’s own account, she struck the child “because she got frustrated when Marley wouldn’t stop crying for her grandfather.”

Marley’s family said that if the little girl had survived, she would have been wheelchair-bound, blind and unable to eat on her own, the Richland Source reports.

Before Nething’s sentencing, Richland County Court of Pleas Judge James DeWeese heard from both families.

“Each day passes by excruciatingly slow,” said Sarah Crabtree, Marley’s aunt, about the little girl who loved Minnie Mouse and playing with her best friend. “It feels like she’s been gone for eternity.”

Another of Marley’s aunts, Natalie King, said 11 years is not sufficient punishment, according to Richland Source.

“I’m not at all satisfied with the consequences that she is facing, but I’d never been satisfied with any consequences she could ever meet legal or otherwise, no matter how severe,” King said.

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After being indicted by a grand jury, Nething was arrested at the daycare center where she worked, the arrest report stated, according to the News Journal.

Nething was initially charged with murder and two counts of felony endangering children in connection with Marley’s death. In a plea agreement, she pleaded guilty in December to involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony.

She will participate in five years of post-release supervision. If she violates her parole, she could be sent to prison for an additional 5 1/2 years.

Nething was also ordered to pay $1,000 restitution to Marley’s grandparents Paul and Debbie Konczak.

Marley’s online obituary says she “was full of life and energy. As soon as she woke, till the day ended, she never stopped. Oh, how she loved to make others smile, and she did constantly, as her smile was the most contagious of all. She enjoyed reading books and playing outdoors. She was always picking up sticks for her collection and loved to dance. She adored Mini Mouse and simply playing with her best friend Christin. Marley was an absolute joy to be around and will be sadly missed by all who new (sic) her.”

One of Nething’s attorneys, Robert Whitney, had no comment.

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