DeKalb County authorities believe that, on Aug. 21, 2012, Selena Denise Rivera used a pipe to beat her 3-year-old granddaughter to death.
On Wednesday, she was sentenced to life in prison.
Rivera, 45, was convicted last week on charges including malice murder, felony murder and two counts of aggravated assault. A DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office spokesman confirmed the sentence handed down Wednesday by Judge Mark Scott included the possibility of parole.
“[Rivera] never took responsibility for her actions and even waived her right to appear before the court for today’s sentencing,” DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James said in an emailed statement. “We think the sentence of life is appropriate and reflective of this terrible crime.”
On the day Neveah Pinckney died, her grandmother reportedly told police that she'd been reading the Bible in bed when she noticed Neveah's eyes rolling back and a white foam coming from her mouth. She then called 911.
According to an arrest warrant, however, Neveah’s then-8-year-old sister told authorities she watched her grandmother “beating the victim with a silver pipe on the day she died and shoved the victim in a closet.”
An autopsy determined that Neveah died from blunt force trauma to the torso, extremities and head, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Erik Burton said Wednesday. She wasn’t breathing when she was removed from the closet, and died about an hour later at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
Scarring also indicated she had been previously injured, authorities have said.
In the weeks after Neveah’s death, Rivera was granted a $25,000 bond and released. Online records show she was booked into the DeKalb County jail following last week’s conviction.
“For a young child to die at the hands of a grandmother is almost unimaginable,” James said. “To call this a senseless act of violence would fail to convey the brutal beatings Neveah suffered by the woman who should have been caring for her and her other siblings.”
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