Minneapolis daycare provider Nataliia Karia, who hanged a toddler and ran over two men with her minivan in November of 2016, was sentenced to 10 years of probation Monday.
“She hung [the 16-month-old boy] by the neck with a homemade noose in her basement in Minneapolis. This case is about that little boy who very well could have taken his last breath in that basement,” assistant county attorney Christina Warren said.
The toddler survived after a parent dropping off a child intervened, removing the noose from the toddler’s neck. The two men she hit with her minivan also survived.
Before attempting suicide in November 2016, Karia faced up to 13 years in prison for the crimes she committed. Since then, she has been sentenced to 10 months of probation instead.
Karia pleaded guilty to attempted murder and criminal vehicular operation, and her attorney Brockton Hunter argued the incident happened as a result of mental illness. “This offense was aggravated, if not wholly caused, by abuse of Nataliia’s husband,” Hunter stated.
The prosecutor rebutted by saying that mental illness is not a reason to give Karia probation instead of prison. “The department of corrections is incredibly well equipped to handle the needs of the mentally ill,” Warren said.