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Woman gets life in prison in daughter’s fatal stabbing

A 47-year-old mother who stabbed her young daughter to death last year was sentenced Thursday to life in prison. She will be eligible for parole in 56 years.

As District Court Judge Stewart Bell read her punishment, Sherri Love stood emotionless and family members in the gallery wept.

In February 2007, Love stabbed 7-year-old Arabella Moreno 20 times, then sliced her 8-year-old son, Brian Moreno, with the same knife. A jury convicted Love of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon on June 26.

In a statement read by her attorney, Love said she was on medication "and something went terribly wrong." Love, who is bipolar and suffers from depression, also said she was in "shock and disbelief" at what she had done. She has maintained since her arrest that she does not have any recollection of the killing.

Love's mother, Marjorie Bull, said Thursday that she hopes to push an initiative called Arabella's Law to ensure that mentally ill mothers receive prompt treatment and help before another desperate mother hurts her child.

"Sherri never got the help she should have gotten," Bull said. "Sherri fell through the cracks."

Bull acknowledged that the stabbings were "horrific" but said Love was not given the proper medication to address her illnesses.

After the attacks on her children, Love locked herself in the bathroom of the family's home near Wigwam Avenue and Jones Boulevard. She swallowed a handful of anti-depressants that had been prescribed to her, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Detectives also believe she might have been drunk on champagne at the time of the knifing.

Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.

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