Two supporters of Sophia Mendoza weep in court Wednesday, moments after Mendoza was sentenced to life in prison for the death of Mendoza's 18-month-old daughter, Sierra Tisdale. Photo by Gary Thompson.
The crime scene photos of Sierra Tisdale show a lifeless, emaciated baby with curly dark hair in a soiled crib, withfeces oozing from every corner of her unchanged diaper.
At the time of the child's 2002 death from starvation, the case was considered one of the worst examples of child neglect in Clark County in recent memory.
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On Wednesday, Tisdale's mother, Sophia Mendoza, was punished for the crime.
"I'm so sorry," Mendoza said during her sentencing hearing. "Nobody knows the guilt and shame."
District Court Judge Donald Mosley sentenced Mendoza to life in prison with parole eligibility after 10 years for second-degree murder. It was the harshest sentence possible under the terms of a previously negotiated plea agreement.
The sentence came even though Deputy Special Public Defender Ivette Maningo told the judge that Mendoza was under the control of her abusive boyfriend, Demone Tisdale, at the time of the child's death.
Mendoza was just 19, yet the couple already had five children. She was also the victim of physical abuse by Tisdale at the time of Sierra's death.
"I'm not suggesting she's not culpable," Maningo said. "She did fail Sierra.
"But consider the circumstances of the case," Maningo said. "This woman is 19 years old, with five children, and she's the victim of domestic abuse. She felt trapped."
Henderson police were called to the Wyoming Avenue home of Mendoza and Tisdale in October 2002, after Tisdale's mother found 18-month-old Sierra and her twin brother, Jacob.
Jacob weighed 16 pounds. Sierra weighed just 10 pounds when she should have weighed between 30 and 40 pounds. The twins had not been fed or changed, and Sierra appeared to have been dead for at least 24 hours.
Three other young children, all belonging to Mendoza and Tisdale, were also in the house. According to police reports, Mendoza told police she forgot to check on the child for two days because of stress.
Henderson police said the Tisdale-Mendoza home was in a state of squalor, and drug paraphernalia was also found in the kitchen.
There were indications that Mendoza used methamphetamine. A parole and probation report stated: "The defendant knew she did not provide for her children because she was high on drugs and was being abused."
Chief Deputy District Attorney Vicki Monroe said Wednesday that on the same day the babies were found, Sophia Mendoza went out to lunch to celebrate her birthday.
"She went to have Chinese food for her birthday," Monroe said. "That was the most offensive thing to me."
In addition, Monroe has said police found a wax apple in the home with bite marks in it.
Maningo said in court Wednesday that Child Protective Services officials were called to the home on three separate occasions before the death. But when no one answered the door, investigators left and failed to follow up, Maningo said.
Maningo also said her client was a good student until she met Tisdale when she was 14. She soon dropped out of school, started having babies, and got a job at Wal-Mart to support the family.
Maningo said the misery of the relationship is described in a series of diary entries Mendoza made when she was dating Tisdale, who never worked.
"Rent's paid, I have some of the power money," Mendoza wrote. "Life's hard. It ain't easy. I hold my head up. That's all I can do with four kids and a baby's daddy who's never happy. He hits me more. I guess once they hit, they continue to."
Both Mendoza and Tisdale pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges as part of plea agreements.
Mosley could have sentenced Mendoza to 10 to 25 years in prison, but he instead chose the life sentence Wednesday.
"It is what it is," was all Mosley said of the crime.
Tisdale received the same sentence in 2004, and he blamed Mendoza for the tragedy.
"She can claim domestic violence and everything else, but she was the mother of the children," Monroe said.
The surviving children are now being raised by Mendoza's loved ones.
