St. Paul woman gets 16 years in prison for drowning 6-year-old daughter

A St. Paul woman was sentenced Wednesday to more than 16 years in prison for drowning her 6-year-old daughter in the bathtub.

Kayla M. Jones, 26, will serve 11 years of that term at the women's prison in Shakopee before returning to the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, where she had been and will be civilly committed as "mentally ill and dangerous."

Jones pleaded guilty in May to second-degree murder with intent in the Dec. 23, 2014 death of her daughter, Azaria Jones. She testified at the time that she had been in a fight with her boyfriend, who is not Azaria's father, and then woke up Azaria, put her in the filled tub and held her head underwater until the girl stopped kicking.

"Azaria was full of life," said a victim impact statement from Azaria's father, Javon Thurmond, and his family. "She was our sunshine on our darkest days."

The letter, read aloud in court by Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Rachel Kraker, said Azaria loved to sing and dance, in particular, to Rihanna's song "Diamonds."

Kraker told the court that although Jones has a long history of mental illness, it did not cause her to kill Azaria. Jones had initially been found incompetent to stand trial, a decision that was later reversed.

Instead of killing her daughter, Kraker told the court, Jones could have turned to the Thurmond family for help.

Jones did not testify to it at her May plea hearing, but the murder charge filed against her said she told authorities that she drowned Azaria after watching television and hearing, "Save the child, don't send him … to the monster."

At the plea hearing, Jones testified that she believed Azaria had been sexually abused. The Ramsey County attorney's office has said the investigation and a medical examination did not substantiate that claim.

One of Jones' attorneys, Andrea Brown, told the court that Jones was sexually abused at the age of 14, suffers from "severe mental health issues" and has a father who is diagnosed as schizophrenic.

Brown noted that Jones confessed to the crime and agreed to be civilly committed at St. Peter while awaiting the outcome of her criminal case.

The sentence, which is a downward departure from state recommendations, was agreed upon by the defense and prosecution because Jones "lacked substantial capacity for judgment" at the time of the crime even though she understood the legal consequences, Brown said.

Ramsey County District Court Judge Teresa Warner said the prison term was "fair." Jones received credit for the 1½ years she spent at St. Peter after her arrest.

Jones' other attorney, Lisa Hallberg, said Jones didn't speak in court because of her past trauma.

"She's had a really traumatic life, and I think that has made it so it's very difficult for her to express feelings in a verbal way." Hallberg said. "While Kayla, I'm sure — I know — is very remorseful about what happened, it's very difficult for her to express that, especially in a courtroom full of people."

About a dozen of Azaria's paternal family members appeared in court wearing T-shirts emblazoned with her photo and messages.

"My daughter is my guardian angel," said a message flanked by angel wings on the back of her father's T-shirt.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708