Though she refused to admit guilt, the mother of a 3-year-old who was beaten to death in 2013 pleaded guilty to a child cruelty charge in April.

Kayla Medckie was sentenced to serve four years of a 10-year prison term, the Rome News-Tribune reported Monday.

Medckie’s daughter, Ella Camp, died Sept. 17, 2013, of severe head trauma, after David Zachary Gresham beat her to death.

During the hearing when Medckie entered her guilty plea in April, Assistant District Attorney Natalee Staats told the court the events began in September 2013, when the child told her grandmother that Gresham had touched her inappropriately, the newspaper reported.

After denying the allegation, Gresham was seen on a gas station video beating Camp in the car while Medckie was in the store.

“The gas station video shows Gresham striking Ella Camp no less than eight times,” Staats said. He struck the child so hard that you could see the car shaking with the impact, Staats said.

The fact that Medckie had confronted Gresham about it the night before and then chose to leave the child with that same person was criminally negligent, Staats said.

She was arrested in November 2013.

Gresham was arrested and later pleaded guilty in 2016 to murder, cruelty to children and assault charges. He was sentenced to life without parole.

In other news:

Explaining Total Eclipses

About the Author

Keep Reading

Republic Services and the Teamsters union have ratified a new labor contract. (Courtesy Republic Services via City of Alpharetta 202)

Featured

Corbin Spencer, right, field director of New Georgia Project and volunteer Rodney King, left, help Rueke Uyunwa register to vote. The influential group is shutting down after more than a decade. (Hyosub Shin/AJC 2017)

Credit: Hyosub Shin