'Monster Mom' Gets 43 Years For Punch That Killed Daughter

WAUKEGAN, IL — A judge referred to a Waukegan woman accused of killing her daughter with a punch to the stomach after years of abuse as a “monster mom” in sentencing her to 43 years in prison this week.

Nicholette Lawrence was sentenced in the Lake County courtroom of Judge James K. Booras, who had harsh words for the defendant, according to a Daily Herald report.

"This defendant failed her life and her child's life," Booras said. "I can't understand the fear, the torment, the anguish this child went through."

Authorities in Waukegan found 11-year-old Raashanai Coley, Lawrence’s daughter, dead in her home in 2014. Lawrence admitted to punching Coley in the stomach when the young girl weighed less than 70 pounds.

Related: Woman Apologizes for Punch That Killed Feeble Daughter

The force of the blow that resulted in the girl’s death caused her ribs to puncture her stomach lining. Earlier court testimony included accusations that Coley was hit with an extension cord, beaten repeatedly and locked in a closet at night without a bed, according to the Daily Herald.

Evidence of old cigarette burns were also found on Coley’s body.

Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim called the treatment “inhumane.”

“It was pure evil,” he said. "This case really affected everyone who handled it."

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