Grandmother gets prison in toddler’s death

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- Family members' pleas for leniency and probation were rejected by a judge who instead ordered a prison term Friday for a Lake Havasu City woman convicted of manslaughter in the September 2005 death of her 22 month-old granddaughter. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steve Conn imposed a five-year sentence on Victoria Wyninger, 58.

"I would never hurt my grandbaby," Wyninger told the court. "I would never do anything to hurt her."

Conn told Wyninger her statement is inconsistent with the admission that she struck the girl, Christine Romero, with a belt two days before her death as a potty training punishment.

He also noted that a medical examiner in Las Vegas concluded that the death was a homicide and that the girl died of blunt force trauma to the head.