A Tucson mother of four had nothing to say Wednesday before she was formally sentenced to life in prison for starving her 6-week-old daughter to death.
Also in the same courthouse Wednesday, Terri Lynn Sullivan's husband went on trial separately in the baby's death. Scott D. Sullivan is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in connection with Kimberlie Sullivan's death in August 2008.
Terri Sullivan, 27, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last month, agreeing to serve a life sentence with parole possible after 25 years.
Kimberlie was born on July 14, 2008, weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces. Her siblings were 2, 3 and 6 years old, according to court documents. The baby weighed 5 pounds, 7 ounces when she died.
On Aug. 30, 2008, Terri Sullivan called 911 saying she found Kimberlie in her swing and she wasn't breathing. When paramedics arrived, they found Scott Sullivan performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. They took over CPR but declared the emaciated baby dead a short time later.
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The Sullivans gave conflicting accounts about how often they fed the baby, but they acknowledged that they had sought no medical help for her deteriorating condition, court documents said.
On Wednesday, Pima County Assistant Public Defender Darlene Edminson-O'Brien told Judge Richard Fields in county Superior Court that Terri Sullivan's childhood and intelligence level contributed to "the situation she found herself in," but she didn't elaborate. Documents with those details have been sealed at the defense attorney's request.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Carolyn Nedder said life in prison was the appropriate sentence for Terri Sullivan.
Baby called emaciated
At the start of Scott Sullivan's trial, witnesses told jurors that Kimberlie was emaciated, frail and malnourished when they responded to her family's apartment after her mother called 911.
Then jurors saw photos that Tucson police detectives took on Aug. 30, 2008, after the baby had been pronounced dead in a room in her family's east-side apartment.
The photos showed Kimberlie's face was sunken in, her skin was saggy, and her bones protruded through her skin. In one photo, her tailbone was exposed.
Nedder told jurors that a medical examiner would testify that Kimberlie had no food in her stomach or in her esophagus when an autopsy was done.
Scott Sullivan, 28, told police that Kimberlie was skinny, and he fed her four or five times a week, Nedder said.
Defense attorney Dan Cooper told jurors that Sullivan counted on his wife to care for the kids while he was working.
Scott Sullivan was exhausted, never at home and oblivious, Cooper said. "He never knew she needed medical attention," Cooper said.
Sullivan was a caring and attentive father, but he was passive, inward and shy, Cooper said.
Terri Sullivan was mean and nasty toward her husband, and dominated and controlled the marriage, Cooper said.
When police asked Sullivan why he didn't notice his daughter's diminishing weight, he told them, "I guess I hadn't looked at her that much lately," Cooper said.
During testimony, jurors heard from a captain and paramedic with the Tucson Fire Department and a police officer and two detectives, who all responded to the Sullivans' apartment.
Officer Jennifer Galaida told jurors that Kimberlie reminded her of concentration camp victim.
"She was so thin - her skin was sagging around her ankles," Galaida told jurors.
The couple's three other children now live with Scott Sullivan's parents.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
