Woman Pleads to Stabbing Death of Daughter, 10.

Today, a San Pedro woman pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for the stabbing death of her 10-year-old daughter at Fort MacArthur last year.

Long Beach Superior Court Judge Charles Sheldon promptly ordered 51-year-old Bong Sook Chaves to serve 12 years in state prison for the July 9, 2010 attack on her daughter, Quesi.

Chavez, the wife of a retired Navy reservist, stabbed her daughter in the neck around 2:30 a.m., then stabbed herself in the neck. Both were taken to a hospital, where the girl died several hours later. More details about what led the mother to such actions were not immediately available.

Chavez was initially charged with murder, but that count was dismissed as a result of her plea, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Fort MacArthur is an administrative center and residential community for the U.S. Air Force on the outcropping across the harbor from Long Beach.