SACRAMENTO, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- A woman in Sacramento, Calif., received a life sentence after being convicted of torturing the teenage daughter of her fiance, officials said.
After the unidentified victim, now 14, told the court Thursday she forgave Duewa Abeana Lee for the nearly fatal acts of torture, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Cheryl Chun Meegan sentenced Lee, 37, to an indeterminate life sentence. Lee received another nine years and four months for other counts related to the abuse, the Sacramento Bee reported Friday.
Lee was convicted of torture and 10 felony counts in July for abuse that took place over a two-month period in 2011.
In court, judge Meegan spoke of the "horrific, unspeakable abuse" and "relentless cruelty" the girl suffered.
The case broke in September 2011 when the girl sought help at a state motor vehicles office she visited with Lee. Law enforcement authorities arrived to check on information the girl told motor vehicle clerks, the newspaper said.
During trial testimony the girl said the torture began at the time her father, Wade Carter, was arrested and later convicted on robbery charges.
Deputy District Attorney Nancy Cochrane said the girl "was beaten literally to within an inch of her life," and "one further stomping event, one further event of blunt force trauma could easily have killed (her)."
The girl had been whipped with electrical cords, burned with an iron, stapled in the ear, thrown down stairs and kicked in the stomach to the point of near death, court testimony said.
