An Ohio babysitter learned Thursday that she will spend at least 18 years in prison for killing a 3-year-old girl who was left in her care last year.
Lindsay Partin, 37, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 18 years for the March 2018 death of Hannah Wesche. The ex-babysitter was criminally charged after Wesche collapsed at her Hanover Township home and died 10 days later, according to the Journal-News.
Partin was convicted in April of murder, involuntary manslaughter, and child endangering. Before her conviction, a court saw a video where Partin confessed to slapping and hitting Wesche in the days leading up to her death. She was also recorded saying that she shook the toddler on the day she collapsed, the news outlet reported.
“I got mad and I just slapped her up the side of the head,” Partin was heard saying in the March 9 confession video. “I shook her and I remember picking her up and squeezing her.”
Partin’s lawyers argued that the ex-babysitter was coerced to make the confession.
An autopsy stated that Wesche died from blunt impact to the head, noting that she suffered a hemorrhage to the optic nerve, “tremendous brain damage,” and deep bruising to the back of her head, the Journal-News reported.
According to WLWT, Partin claimed that some of Wesche’s facial and chest bruising observed by medical staff were sustained during a fall. She also said the toddler had passed out 30 seconds after her father dropped her off.
During the two-week trial, the babysitter’s lawyers argued that Wesche’s father could have caused the fatal injuries before leaving her with Partin. However, the pathologist testified that the toddler would have been acting irregularly within “a couple moments” of experiencing the fatal injury, the Journal-News previously reported.
The slain girl’s uncle told the court how her brother, Jason Wesche, lost his job shortly after Hannah was born. He said Jason would take Hannah to his home to sleep as he slept in his car, in a routine that went on for two years, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Jason, a father of three, eventually got a construction job and a home. Jason would work 12 hours a day, dropping off his daughter with Partin next door, the uncle said.
Prosecutors argued that Partin was angry with Hannah’s father because he was behind in his babysitting payments, which amounted to $30 dollars a day. The Enquirer reported that she was also furious as the toddler had dumped a bottle of ketchup in the toilet.
“I hope and pray every single day that you get the same treatment in jail that you showed to my daughter,” the slain girl’s father told Partin at sentencing,
WKRC reported that Partin will have to register as a violent offender. Partin’s lawyers reportedly said she plans to appeal the sentence.
[Featured image: Hannah Wesche/Facebook]
