New York mom sentenced to 18 years in 2-year-old daughter’s drowning death

A New York mother convicted of manslaughter in the drowning death of her toddler daughter has been sentenced to an 18-year prison term, authorities said.

According to WPIX-TV, Lin Li, 28, of Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood, was attempting to punish 2-year-old Melody Zheng in March 2016 when she held the girl's head down in a container of water, authorities said. When the child stopped moving, Li called emergency responders, who rushed the girl to a nearby hospital, WNBC-TV reported. The girl, who had suffered contusions and bruises, later died, the outlets reported.