Judge Kathleen Brown Nichols called the case “one of the most terrifying cases I have ever seen in my career.”

Photographs of the anonymous boy were secretly admitted into evidence, along with written testimony from doctors, nurses and coroners describing extreme abuse and debilitation.

In the case, the child’s mother, Jessica Seizer, 34, pleaded guilty to child abuse and possession and use of dangerous drugs. She also testified against her co-defendant, 43-year-old Nancy Bell.

Seiser was sentenced to seven years in prison, followed by three years of probation and substance abuse counseling.

Sazer gave birth in Page on April 27, 2022, but did not receive medical care. Later, she admitted that she had been using methamphetamine throughout her pregnancy.

Mr. Bell said in court Friday that Mr. Sisar could have breastfed the baby but she didn’t want to. Instead, she handed over her child to Bell just one day after her birth.

Bell told the court at the time that she was raising a young daughter and thought she could be a “nanny”, adding that she “didn’t ask too many questions” at the time.

The infant was held by Bell for eight days, during which time the infant starved to death, said prosecutor’s attorney Jonathan Mosher.

On May 6, 2022, Bell took the baby to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Bell pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case. She appeared in person in court on Friday wearing a bright purple headscarf, oversized glasses and a navy blue inmate jumpsuit. Ms. Bell was determined to be eligible for release before her sentencing, but she was detained again because she violated the terms of her release.

Bell was ultimately sentenced to 18 years in prison for his involvement in the infant’s death.

Bell’s attorneys asked Christopher Margison, a chartered psychologist, to testify before she was sentenced in court.

Margison testified that Bell was overly optimistic, had a negative disposition, and tended to underestimate symptoms related to mental health. He diagnosed her with ADHD. He also testified that he had researched her medical history and learned that she had bipolar disorder and PTSD and was born with abstinence syndrome because her mother had used heroin before her birth.

Bell’s lawyers used Margison’s testimony to try to explain why Bell didn’t get treatment for his child sooner. The defense sought up to 10 years in prison for Bell.

Mr Bell said in court on his behalf at the court podium: [the baby] He went to the hospital the moment his mother stopped caring for him. That should have been my action. I am responsible for what he went through. I was responsible for it. “

Nichols put pressure on Bell, saying photographic evidence revealed that the child had been in misery for far longer than Bell admits.

At the time of the child’s death, Bell was insecure about her housing, and it’s not clear if she was living at a friend’s house or out of her car when she was the baby’s caretaker. Bell said in court on Friday that she wasn’t often alone with her baby, but she didn’t specify who else she was with. She said she didn’t realize her child was so small until the day she took her to the hospital.

Mr Nichols ultimately found Mr Bell to be law-abiding and to have acted with “extreme indifference to human life”.

Mosher added to the court that Bell’s conduct was particularly cruel and heinous given the child’s condition, and asked that Bell be sentenced to at least 22 years in prison.

Sazer, meanwhile, was not physically present in court on Friday and appeared on Zoom for the sentencing.

Compared to Bell’s judgment, Sazer’s judgment was quiet and swift. Many people sat behind the bell in court, but the court was virtually empty when the victim’s mother was sentenced.

Ms. Seiser’s lawyers did not ask witnesses to make statements about her personality, and the court had few supporters. In her own position, she said, “I deeply regret her choices and actions. I lost her son. I am very, very sorry.”

The defense argued that Sizer used the more than 400 days in Coconino County Jail to sober up and reunite with his family, including two other young children.

Defense attorneys said Mr. Seiser accepted a prison sentence and testified against Bell with his eyes open, knowing he would be marked as a “whistleblower.”

“I feel very strongly that this ruling is appropriate,” Nichols said of Sizer.

“Don’t use drugs in prison…if you use your time productively, you can still be there for other children. What happened to your son is incredibly tragic,” the judge told Sazer.