She tried to drown her 6-year-old daughter. Now, they’ll be apart for 40 years

A Florida woman was sentenced to 40 years in prison Wednesday for stabbing and attempting to drown her 6-year-old daughter in 2015.

On June 26, 2015, Sarasota police were called to the 2100 block of Leon Avenue in Sarasota, after the girl’s grandparents called 911 when they found her injured, wrapped in a pink blanket and lying on the floor. Ashley Parker had reacted by picking up the knife and waving it around.

Parker later jumped into her parents’ backseat armed with the knife as they were trying to follow paramedics to the hospital. She was subsequently arrested and has been in custody at the Sarasota County jail since.

The child was later taken to All Children’s Hospital and has since recovered from her injuries.

Parker, 31, was convicted in September by a jury of attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated child abuse and resisting an officer with violence.

On Wednesday morning, Parker was sentenced by Circuit Judge Charles Roberts to 40 years in prison.

Parker’s defense had argued for lesser punishment after having presented an insanity defense at trial, according to court records. Experts testified that because of mental illness Parker suffers from, she did not know what she was doing when she stabbed and attempted to drown her daughter.

The prosecution had not disagreed that Parker suffered from mental illness, but their experts testified that it did not prevent her from knowing what she was doing.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 7:17 AM with the headline "She tried to drown her 6-year-old daughter. Now, they’ll be apart for 40 years."